Registration of health and social care professionals

CORU is the regulator for health workers and social care professionals. Its role is to protect the public by promoting high standards of professional conduct, education, training and competence through statutory registration of health and social care professionals.

Social care workers

The Social Care Workers Register opened on 30 November 2023. The 2-year transitional period for existing practitioners to apply to register started from that date. On 1 December 2025, the title 'social care worker' will become a legally protected title in Ireland.

New CORU registration system

CORU will launch its new registration system on Monday, 25 November 2024. The current recognition and registration systems shut permanently on 19 November 2024 at 6pm. Applicants and registrants are not able to apply or renew fees after 19 November 2024 until the new system goes live.

CORU keeps a register for each of the professions that are under its remit. If you are working in any of these professions, you must register with CORU when your register is open.

The following are the registers that are currently open:

• Dietitians
• Dispensing opticians
• Medical scientists
• Occupational therapists
• Optometrists
• Physical Therapists
• Physiotherapists
• Podiatrists
• Radiographers/radiation therapists
• Social workers
• Speech and language therapists
• Social care workers

Once a register opens, there is a two-year transitional period after which only professionals on the Register are legally allowed to use the professional title.

You can check the Register for a profession to see if a particular professional is registered with CORU.

The system of statutory registration will eventually apply to the following health and social care professions, regardless of whether they work in the public or private sector or are self-employed:

• Clinical biochemists
• Counsellors
• Orthoptists
• Psychologists
• Psychotherapists

You can complain to CORU about the fitness to practise of registered health and social care professionals. This may include, for example, complaints of professional misconduct or poor professional performance.

CORU can only look into events that have happened since 31 December 2014, when it started accepting complaints.

If you want to make a complaint about a registered practitioner, complete CORU’s Fitness to Practise Complaint Form.

The Fitness to Practise complaint form, and further information on the complaints process, is available on the CORU website.

The Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 introduced changes to the complaint system and added another ground for complaint. You can read more on the CORU website.