2167. Deputy Ann Graves asked the Minister for Health if she will consider reopening a competency-based assessment pathway for experienced social care workers who missed the section 91 deadline; if CORU will be directed to explore accelerated or alternative registration routes for long-serving practitioners, given the acute workforce shortages in the sector; and if a legislative or policy review is planned that would address the situation of experienced workers now excluded from a profession they have dedicated their careers to. [43095/26]

It is important to note that the pathways to registration for all CORU designated health and social care professionals are set out in legislation under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 (as amended) (the Act).

Section 91 of the Act provides a two year transition period to register for those already working in the profession from when a register first opens and is often referred to as the 'grandparenting' provision.  It recognises historical qualifications and other reciprocal arrangements to complete registration, including the option to complete an Assessment of Professional Competence.

For social care workers, the transition period opened following extensive public consultation on 30 November, 2023 and closed on 30 November, 2025. From 1 December, 2025 the title of 'Social Care Worker' became a legally protected title in Ireland and from this point, under the Act, the threshold standards now set for registration require Irish qualified registrants to provide evidence of an approved qualification at NFQ Level 7. Such applications are made under a pathway known as ‘Section 38’.

An applicant may apply to an approved programme provider with submission of prior learning completed and seek that same be recognised by the provider; this is known as recognition of prior learning and is subject to approval by the programme provider and is not in the remit of CORU.

An alternative option is open to Social Care Workers who hold a 'sufficiently relevant qualification' or a 'Schedule 3 qualification' and five year's total practice of the profession to apply under Section 38 (Registration in register of designated profession).

There is no legal provision in the Act that provides for applications to be accepted after the end of the transition period. It is not open to a registration board to grant registration under Section 91 to an applicant who applies after the end of the transition period and there is no legislative or policy reviews planned.

Information on approved qualifications, sufficiently relevant qualifications and Schedule 3 qualifications for social care workers can be found on Coru's website at []https://www.coru.ie/social-care-workers/how-to-register-as-a-social-care-worker and https://www.coru.ie/social-care-workers/how-to-register-as-a-social-care-worker.

By way of reassurance, Social Care Workers who applied for registration during this transition period may continue to work while their application is being reviewed by CORU.