Laura Doyle

Laura has been teaching in the Department of Social Care & Early Childhood since 2021 and teaches across a number of programmes in the Department. Laura also teaches on the Higher Certificate in Custodial Care (HCCC), a joint programme between SETU and the Irish Prison Service (IPS). The HCCC is delivered to all Recruit Prison Officers to develop their character and competence and to prepare them for their careers with the Irish Prison Service. 

Laura has also delivered modules to students availing of supports from Aiséirí, a service that provides addiction treatment for adults and young people who are struggling with alcohol, drug and gambling addiction. 

In 2025 Laura took on the role of Programme Leader for the BA (Hons) in Applied Social Studies in Social Care (Add-on) programme. 

Modules taught include;

• Comparative Social Policy
• Professional Social Care Theory and Practice
• Social Care Management and Professional Practice
• Introduction to Research Methodology
• Personal and Professional Development
• Workplace Reflective Practice
• Preparation for Supervised Professional Practice
• Practice Placement Supervision
• Learning to Learn
• Introduction to Sociology for Social Care Practice
• Sociological Perspectives on Contemporary Social Care Policy and Practice

Laura is currently a PhD research student in SETU Waterford. Her research is an exploration in how a human rights-based approach is understood and experienced in adult disability day services in the South East of Ireland. This is a qualitative research project which will capture the views and opinions of both Social Care Workers and adults with intellectual disabilities in day services. Laura's supervisors are Dr John McNamara and Dr John O'Brien. 

After graduating from Waterford Institute of Technology in 2012, Laura worked as a Social Care Worker in the disability sector supporting adults with intellectual disabilities to live the lives of their choosing using a person-centred and rights-based approach. After a number of years Laura was promoted to Social Care Leader and then Social Care Manager. During these years Laura was involved in a number of local and national sub-committees and groups including the Quality and Standards Subcommittee of the National Federation of Voluntary Service Providers, the New Directions Local Implementation Group, Interim Standards EASI Tool Implementation Group, CHO5 Early Years Policy Development Subgroup and many others. 

Laura has been a member of Social Care Ireland since 2016 and is currently a member of the Workers Advisory Group (WAG) and the Disability Special Interest Group (DSIG) of Social Care Ireland. She is also currently a Co-Editor of the Curám magazine, an online magazine resource for members of Social Care Ireland. 

Doyle, L. (2025) ‘Supporting Will and Preference in Adult Disability Day Services: A Critical Commentary on Practice for Social Care Workers, Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies, 25(1), DOI: https://doi.org/10.21427/kavf-4p65

Doyle, L. (2021) ''All in this Together?' A commentary on the impact of Covid-19 on disability day services in Ireland', Disability and Society, 36(9), pp. 1538-1542, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2021.1935215 

Doyle, L. (2021) 'Domain 1 Standard of Proficiency 3: Be able to act in the best interests of service users at all times with due regard to their will and preference', in Lyons, D. and Brown, T. (Eds.), Guide to the Standards of Proficiency for Social Care Workers, Available at: Guide to the Standards of Proficiency for Social Care Workers - Social Care Ireland

Doyle, L. (2021) Domain 5 Standard of Proficiency 3: Understand and apply a human rights-based approach (HRBA) to one's work', in Lyons, D. and Brown, T. (Eds.), Guide to the Standards of Proficiency for Social Care Workers, Available at: Guide to the Standards of Proficiency for Social Care Workers - Social Care Ireland

Doyle, L. and O'Brien, J. (2020) 'A Cacophony of Protocol: Disability services in the context of the Covid-19 Pandemic', Irish Journal of Sociology, 28(3), pp. 370-374, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0791603520942681