The Honorary Secretary of PSI provides an update to the PSI membership after each Council meeting. The most recent Council updates can be viewed here.
The PSI Honorary Secretary for 2024 is Dr John Francis Leader.
Honorary (Company) Secretary Update
Report from Dr John Francis Leader
I am excited to take on the role of PSI Honorary Secretary for the year 2024. I know from fascinating conversations with those who have previously served in this role what a challenging but rewarding one it is. Thanks to all my Council colleagues—and particular thanks to outgoing Honorary Secretary / incoming PSI President Elect Damien Lowry and PSI President Odhrán Mc Carthy—for their support and guidance.
Up until last year I had been serving in the International Liaison Role. I'm delighted to see how PSI's international outreach has expanded significantly, with important work carried out by energetic divisions and special interest groups, closer relationships developed with other national associations and active participation by PSI with the various international organisations that we are affiliated with including: the European Federation of Psychologists' Associations; the Global Psychology Alliance; and the International Union of Psychological Science. I'm confident that PSI's international impact will continue to develop, with the very capable Dean McDonnell taking on the role of International Liaison and the establishment of the new PSI International Committee to help support a breadth of international work.
Of the various functions of the Honorary Secretary role—which generally focuses on governance, processes and internal communications—ensuring that the membership is empowered and kept aware of Council's work, I believe, is amongst the most important. I actively welcome your feedback on how this can be best achieved, and I know these written updates are one key way.
Another significant opportunity is the rollout of the PSI Community Forum, an online platform for internal communications. After a testing phase Council approved with the Private Practice Special Interest Group, and the recent onboarding of PSI staff, the platform is being rolled out to Council, Committees, and then—assuming all goes well with testing—to Divisions, SIGs and members generally. Feedback will be gathered as this happens, in stages, and it will hopefully be an important new chapter in how we all collaborate together—lots more to follow.
Two Council meetings have taken place so far this year, in January and February. PSI President Odhrán Mc Carthy welcomed Council for the new year and expressed a special welcome to newly appointed Council member Maria Corrigan and returning Council member Katarina Timulakova. The officer appointments were confirmed for the coming year, as follows:
Council also took the opportunity to confirm four co-optees who will support Council during 2024: a warm welcome to Louise Higgins, Sharon Lambert, Eithne Ní Longphúirt and Rebecca Nolan! The full list of Council members for 2024 can be viewed here.
Amidst the warm welcome of new members, Council was disappointed to accept the resignation of Ian O'Grady, long-standing Council member and PSI Past President. We wish Ian all the best and thank him for his many contributions to the Society.
Some of the topics recently on the agenda, which can be read about in more detail elsewhere, include: statutory regulation through CORU; committee activity updates; division and special interest group activity; international updates; PSI's statement calling for an immediate end to hostilities in the Middle East; and an invitation for PSI to join the Irish Climate and Health Alliance which Council supported.
A key theme that has occupied Council's attention so far this year has been improved governance. PSI CEO Sheena Horgan has brought to Council a fresh perspective and considerable experience, and together Council and the CEO have been actively looking at how PSI's structures and processes are built. This is an ongoing process, and I'll share updates, but some notable steps to date have included: reviewing processes and developing a plan of action; mapping PSI's records and ensuring that relevant personnel have easy access; and considering the lines of communication and the scope of structures like Council, the Governance Team and Committees. In a recent action, it was clarified that all Council members are to serve as PSI's Board of Directors, and this has been actioned.
I look forward to sharing updates from Council throughout the rest of the year. Remember that PSI is there to support members, so if you have feedback please don't hesitate to get in touch.
John Francis Leader
PSI Council Member & Honorary Secretary
honorarysecretary@psychologicalsociety.ie
Honorary (Company) Secretary Update
Report from Dr John Francis Leader
Building on a busy start to 2024, Council met for its third meeting of the year on 19 March. PSI President Dr Odhrán Mc Carthy welcomed members and staff to the meeting, and PSI CEO Sheena Horgan provided an up to date dashboard of key information for the Society.
Topics of discussion included considering the membership renewal process and terms of reference for committees. To help with demand in the office, the recruitment of a new member of staff was approved to proceed. Work is underway to support divisions and SIGs in allocating resources from their budgets for various initiatives. A review is to be taken of PSI’s affiliations so these can be clearly charted.
Council was disappointed to accept the resignation of Council member Dr Gráinne Kirwan. We wish Gráinne all the best and thank her for her many contributions to the Society.
In the governance update, members discussed the increasing demands on, and communication to, Council and ways to better manage this through a combination of improved technology and clearer delegated authority structures. A review of the PSI Constitution and governance processes is due in the near future, and this will be a useful opportunity to ensure that processes are both effective and integrated.
Council considered the role of staff on PSI committees, confirming that it is ex-officio. The process for appointees to external committees was clarified, so that short notice nominations will be reviewed by the Governance Team (the group consisting of the Society’s officers and the CEO ex-officio), with Council reviewing in cases where the deadline is beyond the next scheduled Council meeting.
In order to ensure that suitable expertise can be drawn on to support committees, Council approved the option to co-opt non-members to committees under certain conditions (such as the chair being a Council member, and the majority of members being PSI members). This is already the case with the Resources Committee, which co-opts financial expertise, and this will allow for a similar approach to be taken elsewhere.
Updates were received from a number of committees. The Resources Committee update included updates on the Society’s Investment Policy, Reserves Policy and the Committee’s Terms of Reference. The importance, it was discussed, for committee functioning is finding the right balance so that Council can delegate appropriately while still retaining good oversight. Updates were provided from the Communications & Events (C&E) Committee, the Undergraduate Accreditation Committee (UAC), the Postgraduate Accreditation Committee (PAC), the External Validation Committee (EVC), and from the Membership Qualification Chartership Committee (MQCC) meeting, where committee structuring was considered. The terms of reference were approved for the newly formed International Affairs Committee, now formally established as a committee dedicated to managing the various aspects of PSI’s international relationship in conjunction with the International Liaison Officer.
Council continued to track CORU developments, which are being regularly shared with the membership via the IP and ezine. Work is also actively underway in the search for PSI’s new headquarters. Having recently received professional property advice, the specifications of the Society’s needs are being updated and collated with lessons learnt from previous viewings in order to help the property search.
I hope these updates give some insight into the work happening on Council. I look forward to sharing further updates as they emerge. Remember that PSI is here to support members, so if you have feedback please don't hesitate to get in touch.
John Francis Leader
PSI Council Member & Honorary Secretary
honorarysecretary@psychologicalsociety.ie
Honorary (Company) Secretary Update
Report from Dr John Francis Leader
Council met again in April, May and June 2024, discussing and finalising decisions on a range of matters related to the Society’s development and day to day operations. Some key themes over the past few months have been governance, preparing for the AGM, and meeting with CORU around statutory regulation.
During this time Council was disappointed to accept the resignation of Council member Dr Sarah Casey. We wish Sarah all the best and thank her for her many contributions to PSI.
Governance
Work continues to develop PSI’s governance processes across a number of fronts. As the Society has grown, some of the previous systems and processes have needed reimagining.
Much work has happened already internally, but the next key step will be to appoint an external reviewer—something that is due to happen shortly. Council feel that this process, which will involve a thorough impartial analysis of the organisation’s structures and workflows, will be a helpful way of ensuring alignment with PSI’s priorities.
The Governance Review Work Group, chaired by President-elect Damien Lowry, has been focusing on reviewing the PSI Constitution. This review has prioritised three proposed Constitutional amendments, which will be brought to the membership at the upcoming AGM.
PSI AGM
Work has been ongoing to prepare the PSI AGM. In addition to arranging the event itself, preparation involves receiving motions to be brought to the membership for voting at the AGM, as well as gathering nominations from members to serve on Council for the term 2025-2027. It’s good to see a healthy interest in serving on Council for the next term, as well as a range of motions aimed to improve PSI’s functioning.
Also underway has been the election process for President-elect 2025. PSI operates a three year presidential cycle, with those elected by Council serving for one year as President-elect, then one year as President and then for a final year as Past-president. The outcome of the election will be announced at the AGM.
CORU will also present at the AGM to provide the membership a general update on the status of the statutory regulation of psychology in Ireland.
Statutory regulation
Council met with CORU on 24 June 2024 to discuss the latest proposals for statutory regulation. As you will have seen from other updates, a series of meetings with PSI specialist groups have been arranged so that they can understand and offer feedback on the implications of CORU’s proposed system of statutory regulation in their context.
It will no doubt be important for PSI to develop an overall position on the proposed scheme of regulation. Doing so will require a holistic approach—recognising the range of diverse fields and specialisms within psychology—and it would appear that not all will be affected equally. PSI’s role is to advocate, without fear or favour, based on what our own experience, our best predictions and the evidence from other jurisdictions tells us about how we can most appropriately structure statutory regulation in a way that best serves society, psychology and psychologists.
I hope these updates give some insight into the work happening on Council. I look forward to sharing further updates as they emerge. Remember that PSI is here to support members, so if you have feedback please don't hesitate to get in touch.
John Francis Leader
PSI Council Member & Honorary Secretary
honorarysecretary@psychologicalsociety.ie
Honorary (Company) Secretary Update
Report from Dr John Francis Leader
PSI Council met again in August and September 2024, with a key governance event during that time being the PSI AGM, held on 24th August 2024 at the Hyatt Centric in Dublin City Centre and online.
While Council meetings are an opportunity for Council to finalise decisions on a range of matters related to the Society’s development and day to day operations, the AGM is an opportunity for members to get together and to vote on proposed motions and to elect members to Council.
During this time, PSI CEO Sheena Horgan moved on to another role. We wish Sheena all the best and thank her for her many contributions to PSI.
Work has progressed around developing PSI’s governance and structures. To help with this, an external governance reviewer has now been appointed, following a tendering and selection process. A review is commencing, which will involve a thorough and impartial analysis of the organisation’s structures and workflows and observing how Council meetings function and how the board is structured.
Another central area of focus has been the role of CORU in statutory regulation. A number of meetings have now taken place between CORU and PSI, including with Council, with individual divisions and special interest groups, and at the AGM.
CORU have proposed a two phase registration process for the statutory registration of psychologists. In the first phase, clinical, counselling and educational psychologists are to be registered in three separate registers. In a second, later phase, a general register would be created for ‘psychologists’ generally.
It is clearly good to see forward progress on achieving statutory regulation, something that PSI has long invited. Some areas of concern with the proposal that have been flagged by PSI involve the structure of having two phases rather than simultaneous registration that would be inclusive of all psychologists, and the question of where teachers, researchers and academics would fit into the registration process. CORU have indicated that grandparenting would be possible for these psychologists, however there appears to be no clear path for those in these fields in the future to legally use the title psychologist beyond the end of the grandparenting process. PSI will be shortly issuing a formal response to CORU.
At the 2024 PSI AGM the Annual Report for 2023 was presented to the membership and an announcement was made for the 2025 President-Elect—warm congratulations to Sarah Cassidy!
An election took place for Council members for the 2025-2027 term. The membership elected five Council members: a big welcome/welcome back to Council to Anne Kehoe, Sharon Lambert, Bláithín MacMahon, Ger McNamara and Ian O'Grady.
The membership voted on three motions, which had been under development by PSI’s Governance Review Working Group, all of which were approved. The motion on gender inclusive language proposed changes to adopt the use of gender neutral language in the PSI Constitution. Another motion approved amendments to the Constitution to allow for the use of e-voting for president-elect nominations. A third motion provided updates around the terminology of ‘unsound mind’ in provisions around capacity, updating that section of the Constitution in line with more recent legislation and best practice.
It has been a busy year, with some remarkable contributions by volunteers and staff, and what seems like some very solid groundwork in place for developments to come. I hope these updates give some insight into the work happening. I look forward to sharing further updates as they emerge. Remember that PSI is here to support members, so if you have feedback please feel welcome to get in touch.
John Francis Leader
PSI Council Member & Honorary Secretary
honorarysecretary@psychologicalsociety.ie