Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 30 September 2026
180. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Health the interim protections currently in place for patients who wish to take a fitness to practice complaint against a psychologist before CORU formally commences in 2027. [69147/26]
View answerAs the Deputy will be 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), including setting the standards that health and social care professionals must meet to be eligible for registration and maintaining registers of persons who meet those standards.
The Psychologists Registration Board (PSRB) was established in 2017. The work of the PSRB includes setting the Standards of Proficiency for entry to its register and Criteria for Education and Training Programmes, establishing a Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics that registrants must adhere to, and approving and monitoring education and training programmes.
Regulating a new profession is a complex and lengthy process, requiring careful consideration and preparatory work to ensure that it is effective in protecting the public. Psychology has been a uniquely challenging profession to regulate due to the diversity of its specialisms and the fact that there is no common education pathway or standards for entry to the profession.
A significant body of work has been undertaken by CORU and the PSRB in the last number of years to progress the opening of the psychology registers, including extensive research, public consultation, detailed risk analysis, and the establishment of an expert advisory group to make recommendations on a bespoke regulatory model.
A regulatory model has been developed that will facilitate the protection of the title ‘psychologist’ in Ireland. Regulation will be introduced in two phases. The first phase will see registers opened for clinical, counselling and educational psychologists, with the second phase encompassing all other psychology specialisms.
The PSRB’s statutory remit is to ensure the competence of registrants to practice safely in any setting where they engage with vulnerable service users. This is inextricably bound with its legal object and remit to ensure protection of the professional title; namely, that all who use the protected title of educational psychologist have the same threshold knowledge, skills and competence to ensure a consistent, safe level of practice.
Significant progress has been made towards opening the registers of clinical, counselling, and educational psychology, and it is anticipated these registers will open next year.
As you are aware, Fitness to Practise is concerned with those issues that affect a person's ability to practise in their profession, not just in their current job. This includes professional misconduct and poor professional performance. It does not replace the existing complaints processes to employers.
Whilst work to regulate the psychology profession is ongoing, patients and service users also have existing rights and access to remedy under consumer protection law, specifically the Consumer Protection Act 2007 and the Consumer Rights Act 2022. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is the statutory body responsible for promoting compliance with, and enforcing, competition and consumer protection law in Ireland. The CCPC operates a consumer helpline to provide information to consumers about their rights.
In addition to consumer protection measures, consumers entering into contracts may also have remedies under contract law and should seek independent legal advice. Where a crime may have been committed by a practitioner a report should be made to An Garda Síochána.
Finally, I wish to assure the Deputy that my Department and CORU are fully committed to delivering regulation of this very important profession.
