Dr. Niall Muldoon:

In response to Deputy Healy's question, what I plan to do is to go back to basics and listen to what is being said. I will visit people who have been in that situation and listen to what they have to say. As the Deputy will know from the quotation I gave to earlier, there are powerful stories to be told. Many people in the youth area such as those involved in Jigsaw, Headstrong and some of the voluntary groups have already done much of this work. I will gather the information rather than telling the Deputy exactly what I will do and in what areas I will do it. One area we need to examine is going upstream and helping young people to maintain a healthy approach to their mental health while they can. We need to consider some provision in primary schools and post-primary schools where the conversation has not started to open up about seeking help when a problem arises. We also need to encourage the positive protective factors. That is something I would be very interested in examining. I am not quite sure what shape that will take as yet.

The Deputy also asked about the education admissions Bill. There are number of positive areas in that respect. The section 29 independent appeals provision has been retained in it. We have concerns around the derogation in regard to past pupils, which we have aired previously. That can be a soft barrier for many children who arrive in an area and their parents have not been in school in a certain area, or some children may not have been to a post-primary school. That is something about which we have had a concern and those are the areas we are examining. I hope to have advice on that for the Minister for Education and Skills soon.