Seanad report: Thousands of vulnerable people in this country would be left open to something close to manipulative exploitation because of the failure to define in law the profession of counsellor or therapist, Brendan Ryan (Lab) contended.
He said he was horrified by the number of people he met who were doing night, part-time or correspondence courses in counselling or a course in therapy.
"I am sure some of them may turn out to be very good counsellors and therapists, but both they and the public are entitled to know that there is some basic standard of qualification regulated by an impartial regulatory body.
"Waiting for the Health Service Executive to come back with proposal to do something which might lead to action would leave a great many people open to something close to manipulative exploitation."
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The debate about a second terminal at Dublin airport had got far too ideological, Martin Mansergh (FF) said. One needed to be realistic about what degree of competition would be involved.
Efficiency and a service for the public were the things that mattered, he said. It was far more likely that there would be competition between Shannon, Cork and Dublin airports than there would be between two terminals side-by-side.
"I think there is also some times a sort of anti-union undertow to some of the discussion, which I don't really like."