Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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1456. To ask the Minister for Health if he is aware of any additional costs occurred by speech and language therapists who have qualified abroad in registering to practice in Ireland when compared to their counterparts who qualified in Ireland; if in light of the shortage of speech and language therapists he intends to take steps to eliminate any differences in cost; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12781/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The Health and Social Care Professionals Council and Registration Boards, collectively known as CORU, are responsible for protecting the public by promoting high standards of professional conduct, education, training, and competence amongst the professions designated under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act (2005), which includes the speech and language profession.

I am advised by CORU that applicants, including speech and language therapists, who hold a qualification from an Irish approved programme are eligible to be registered directly with CORU upon completion of their qualification. The programme of study these applicants have undertaken are approved by the relevant Registration Board and are monitored directly by CORU. The registration cost for applicants who hold an approved qualification is €100.

All applicants to CORU , including speech and language therapists, who have qualified outside the state are required to have their qualification recognised. This is a document-based assessment process where assessment of the applicant’s information is reviewed by an educator and practitioner from the profession against the Standards of Proficiency to practise in Ireland. The applicant’s documentation is assessed, and a report is presented to the relevant Registration Board for decision.

The costs to the applicants is €510 (€410 for recognition of the non- Irish qualification and €100 for registration). This covers the assessment costs, as well as administrative costs of the application.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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1457. To ask the Minister for Health the reason speech and language therapists that qualify abroad are not able to avail of the same revised pathway to registration in Ireland that is currently available to occupational therapists; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12786/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The Health and Social Care Professionals Council and Registration Boards, collectively known as CORU, are responsible for protecting the public by promoting high standards of professional conduct, education, training, and competence amongst the professions designated under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act (2005).

I am advised by CORU, that some pathways for recognition of international qualifications have been recently streamlined in CORU through a process called ‘Frequently Seen Qualifications’. This process confirms the home state’s standards for the profession is aligned with the threshold standards of practice set by a registration board to practise safely within Ireland, known as the ‘Standards of Proficiency’. To date the state that most aligns in this way is the UK.

In the case of Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs), unfortunately at present the standards to practise in the UK do not align with the Irish standards. This is due to the absence of training in the UK in Feeding, Eating, Drinking and Swallowing (FEDS) difficulties, also known as dysphagia, which is a requirement to practise in Ireland. Therefore, the new pathway cannot be used for SLTs trained in the UK.