Statutory Regulation of Psychologists
he Psychologists Registration Board was established in July 2017 by the then Minister for Health, Simon Harris TD, with the aim of introducing statutory regulation for the psychology profession in Ireland and protect the professional title psychologist, meaning that when regulation is introduced only qualified individuals who are registered with CORU can legally use that title.
Designing a Bespoke Regulatory Model
Unlike other professions CORU has established regulation for, where there is a single education and training pathway into practice of a profession, the psychology profession is more complex because entry into practice in Ireland is based on training in a specific area of psychology, what are known as psychology specialisms, for example: counselling psychology, sports and exercise psychology or health psychology.
The Psychologists Registration Board is committed to introducing regulation that will protect the title psychologist to ensure the greatest level of public protection. Therefore, it has developed a bespoke regulatory model that will continue to facilitate the current model of training psychologists in Ireland through specialisms, while also allowing for the legal protection of the title psychologist.
More detail on the regulatory model is available in the short video below and in the accompanying Factsheet that has been developed as part of CORU’s Regulatory Essentials suite of resources, available here.
Establishing Regulation
Following a detailed risk-based evaluation of all psychology specialisms that considered the risk to the public, the complexity of the work involved and vulnerability of the service users engaged with, along with the readiness of education programmes to align to regulatory requirements, the Psychologists Registration Board agreed that the establishment of regulation should be progressed in two phases, with work on progressing each happening concurrently.
Phase One: Establishing Registers for Clinical, Counselling and Educational Psychologists
During this first phase of its work, the Board will establish three separate registers; one for each of the three specialisms identified. This means that if a practitioner is looking to practise as a clinical psychologist, a counselling psychologist or an educational psychologist – and using that professional title in their practice – they must be registered on one of these three registers.
Significant preparatory work has been completed to support the establishment of these three registers. The Board:
published, following extensive stakeholder consultation, the Standards of Proficiency and Criteria for Education and Training Programmes for each of these registers:
Standards of Proficiency for Clinical Psychologists
Criteria for Education and Training Programmes for Clinical Psychologists
Standards of Proficiency for Counselling Psychologists
Criteria for Education and Training Programmes for Counselling Psychologists
Standards of Proficiency for Educational Psychologists
Criteria for Education and Training Programmes for Educational Psychologists
is in the final stages of developing its Continuing Professional Development Requirements for the three registers; and has made substantial progress on finalising the Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics for each of the three registers.
In order to facilitate the establishment of these three registers, a number of technical amendments to the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 (as amended) are required. CORU is working collaboratively with the Department of Health to progress these amendments, along with the remaining legislative and regulatory steps necessary to establish the registers for clinical, counselling and educational psychologists.
In light of this ongoing legislative process, the opening of the first three registers is now expected in 2027. CORU and the Department of Health remain committed to progressing this work as efficiently as possible, while ensuring that the regulatory framework is robust, transparent and aligned with statutory requirements.
Phase Two: The Psychologists Register
Alongside its work progressing the opening of registers for clinical, counselling and educational psychologists, the Psychologists Registration Board has been working to establish the necessary regulatory infrastructure that will facilitate the establishment of the Psychologists Register, the register that will accommodate the regulation of all other psychology specialisms.
The first element of this regulatory infrastructure is the setting of the Standards of Proficiency that will articulate the knowledge and skills required – at the threshold level – for entry into practice across all the remaining psychology specialisms. The Board’s drafting process has been layered and multi-faceted with input from national and international experts in professional regulation, education quality assurance and psychology, along with continued stakeholder engagement during late Autumn 2025 and Spring 2026. A video from one of these engagement sessions – held online in June 2026 – is available to view.
The Psychologists Registration Board anticipates that it will be in a position to open a public stakeholder consultation process on its draft Standards of Proficiency for Psychologists and Criteria for Education and Training Programmes for Psychologists during Autumn 2026.
The Board will continue to keep all stakeholders updated across both phases of its work through this page on the CORU website along with its various social media channels: LinkedIn, X and Instagram.