William Aird (Laois, Fine Gael)
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243. To ask the Minister for Health if she intends to establish the joint working group proposed at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health, comprising CORU, organisations (details supplied), academic institutions, service users to examine improvements to CORU regulatory standards; if community-based therapy providers, including section 39 and section 56 organisations funded by Tusla, the HSE and other agencies, will be formally included; the timeline for the group’s establishment and first meeting; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17265/26]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, CORU is Ireland’s multi-profession health and social care regulator and was established under the 2005 Act. CORU’s role is to protect the public by regulating the health and social care professions designated under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 (as amended).

CORU’s Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board was established in 2019 and since then has been working to progress regulation of both professions.

CORU has undertaken very significant research and stakeholder engagement at all stages of the process to regulate counsellors and psychotherapists and continues to engage with all stakeholders as it moves towards the regulation of these professions.

In July 2025 CORU published two key documents for each of these professions:

For each profession there is:

• Standards of Proficiency, which set out the minimum knowledge and skills required for entry to the Register.
• Criteria for Education and Training Programmes, which set the requirements for how professional training programmes are designed and managed to ensure graduates consistently meet the Standards of Proficiency.