Crisis pregnancy counselling regulation
Deputy Howlin pressed for promised legislation to regulate crisis pregnancy counselling and shut down rogue agencies abusing women. The Tánaiste condemned the services, said work was under way on a consultation and professional registration changes, and confirmed the Minister aimed to act in September.
Last September, I published a Bill to propose the regulation of crisis pregnancy counselling in Ireland. The need for legislation in this regard is clear to all by now. As I have said repeatedly, women in crisis pregnancy situations are being abused by charlatans who lie to them. Those rogue agencies are still operating in this city although they have been condemned by those on all sides in the House. Here we are coming to end of another Dáil terms and no action has been taken to shut the agencies down. I accepted the bona fides of the Minister for Health when he assured me that he was moving to regulate counselling in these areas. At a meeting for International Women's Day, officials from his Department gave the Labour Party a commitment that the statutory instrument to do so would be brought to the House before the summer recess. Yesterday the Minister, Deputy Harris, said that no such commitment had been made and that regulation would not happen before September at the earliest. This is not good enough. The Labour Party did not press its Bill because we were assured that action would be taken. When will action be taken, as promised by the Government and the Minister for Health?
Comment on this
I recognise the work done by Deputy Howlin on this issue. I join him in condemning these services, which have effectively abused women who are pregnant and have given information that is not truthful or objective. The Minister has been working on this. There has been a consultation. On foot of this, the Minister is proceeding with a designation of the two distinct professions of counsellor and psychotherapist under the Act. Each will have its own register under one registration board. This is necessary in order to deal with rogue counsellors or rogue psychotherapists.