Professionalization of Social Work in Ireland

Running head: PROFESSIONALIZATION OF SOCIAL WORK IN IRELAND
PROFESSIONALIZATION OF SOCIAL WORK IN IRELAND
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1PROFESSIONALIZATION OF SOCIAL WORK IN IRELAND
Social work is described as the personal care, social care and the protection and social
support services to adults and kids who are in need or at any kind of risk and in other aspects like
old age, disability and poverty (Lalor and Share 2013). Social care workers are said to be provide
professional care to the vulnerable individuals who experience disadvantage and marginalization.
Social care work is basically constructed on the interpersonal relationships that generally require
positive communication, empathy, self-awareness and the ability to apply critical reflection
(Mänttäri‐van der Kuip 2016). This paper is going to focus on professionalization of social work
in Ireland.
Ireland was developing and considering recognizing social work as a profession since in
the 19th century. According to research, social work in Ireland was developing during the
industrial revolution (Gillespie 2013). During this time there were many people who were
migrating to the urban areas which led to the rise of several social issues like prostitution,
poverty and disease. In this crucial time there were many charitable organisations and religious
people who took a step forward to tackle the situation and wanted to end these social problems.
During the late 19th century, social work in Ireland grew out of various philanthropic activities of
churches and voluntary groups like Sisters of Charity and St. Vincent de Paul. The values of the
Christian community got embedded with the social work and this continued till the mod 90’s.
Administering charity and raising funds was the main and primary focus of the religious
organisations so that they could help in benefiting others and helping them overcome the social
issue they were facing.
Social work in Ireland was regulated and was recognized as a profession in the year 2005
(Curtis and Glacken 2014). This meant that social work in Ireland was not more viewed just as a
philanthropic activity but as a profession where people would be employed to do social work.

2PROFESSIONALIZATION OF SOCIAL WORK IN IRELAND
This had led many people who were unqualified in this field to register to acquire a professional
level degree in the field to boost their career in the long run. Social work in Ireland has had a
significant growth and has been expanding in recent times. The amount of students that are
thinking to enter this field of social work has been growing and exploding. However it has been
seen that there are some issues in terms of professionalization of social care in Ireland. One of
the major issues in terms of professionalization of social work in Ireland is the lack of concrete
definition in the Irish context. Social care in Ireland has set to have evolved into set of practices
that are loosely linked like community childcare, community development, therapeutic practice,
residential childcare and youth work and the other issue is in terms of the practice of social care.
Kelemen, Mangan and Moffat (2017) states that there are many people who believe that social
work is considered to be an act of kindness and a activity that comes from within the people and
thus making this a profession dismisses humanity. However there have been arguments that state
professionalizing social work is a huge and important step that will in overcoming the various
social issues that are currently present and pave way for healthy and better living for everyone
(Wickert and De Bakker 2018).
Apart from the professionalization of social work in Ireland, one of the most significant
and important developments that have affected the social work in Ireland which took place on
August 5, 2010 is the time when Social Workers Registration Board went to on to be one the first
boards among the twelve other boards to be appointed by the Minister for Health and Children.
The Social Workers Registration Board was appointed under the act, Health and Social Care
Professionals Act 2005 (Byrne 2016).
CORU which is said to be an umbrella body which responsible for the protection of the
public by regulating the professionals of social and healthcare by promoting very high standards