Women 'naive' for offering therapy sessions when not registered in Ireland

Lisa O’Driscoll and Emma Power at Cork CourtPicture: Michael Mac Sweeney/Cork Courts

Two young women were described by a sentencing judge as naïve for continuing to offer speech and language therapy and occupational therapy when they were not registered in Ireland with their UK qualifications.

Their solicitor Carrie McDermott described the prosecution in Cork District Court for acting without registration, and injunctive proceedings in the High Court earlier this year by the professional body in the area, as “using a sledge-hammer to crack a nut.” Martina Ward Clancy of Coru, the health and social care professionals council, told her barrister Tony McGillicuddy that this was the first time they had ever prosecuted anyone for using the title of speech therapist or occupational therapist where they were not entitled to do so, contrary to the Health and Social Care Professionals Act of 2005.