Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 4 February 2026
951. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Health whether existing counsellors/psychotherapist will be subject to the same CORU standards as newly qualified counterparts; if existing counsellors/psychotherapist will have special qualification provisions put in place; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7406/26]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, CORU is Ireland’s multi-profession health and social care regulator. 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).
Under the provisions set out in this Act when a register for a health and social care profession is established, there are two registration pathways.
• Section 38 application - for new entrants or recent graduates.
• Section 91 application - for existing practitioners – the grandparenting route.
The Standards of Proficiency and Criteria for Education and Training Programmes for both professions published by the Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board in July 2025 set the threshold requirements for new entrants or recent graduates at the time the registers open. Therefore, the Standards and Criteria apply to those making a Section 38 application.
For existing practitioners, Section 91(1) of the Act sets out specific requirements for entry to the register through the grandparenting provision. The applicant must:
• have been practising in the profession for two years out of the previous five years on the date that the register opens
• hold the relevant qualifications, as prescribed by regulation by the Minster for Health, or hold a sufficiently relevant qualification or have successfully completed an Assessment of Professional Competency test; and
• be deemed fit and proper to practise the profession.
For professions listed originally in the Act, the relevant qualifications for existing practitioners were set out in Schedule 3. Counsellors and Psychotherapists were designated for regulation by the then Minister for Health in 2018 through Statutory Instrument No. 170/2018. As such there is no Schedule 3 list of relevant qualifications for counsellors or psychotherapists.
However, I will prescribe by regulation the qualifications appropriate for the purposes of grandparenting in advance of the opening of registers for both professions.
