Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is the issue of whether they should be ex quota. The allocation this year, which came into effect on 1 September, is not ex quota so the principal has some discretion in deciding on the allocation. The issue that has to be decided going forward is whether we should move to restore an ex quota provision. There are arguments on both sides of that which the Deputy has probably heard. A decision would have to be reached on that. Some would argue that counselling is a whole-school activity and should not be confined to one individual but one could say that counsellors are professionally trained and counselling should be delivered by people who have that training and it should be protected ex quota. That issue is there. I absolutely agree with the Deputy that we need to invest more in resilience. Our commitment in NEPS and counselling in the programme for Government is very much building on that. While there may be no reference in the documentation, one will see that in the education action plan we have very much centred on that. There is work going on in my Department auditing what we are already doing and looking at how we can have a better impact. Apart from the allocation of extra resources, we are rolling out the well-being programme at junior certificate level which is a 400-hour programme. It has been very well designed. The exemplars the Deputy describes are really good. In many ways all these solutions cannot be designed in Marlborough Street and it will depend on exemplars of good practice. We depend very much on community engagement in programmes like this for them to be successful. They are to be welcomed and hopefully built upon. This morning I launched a first-aid kit to help coaches in clubs or teachers in schools to recognise the early signs of mental health stress in players or pupils and to be able to respond appropriately. It cannot just be a narrow education issue. That has been recognised by the Minister of State, Deputy Helen McEntee, with her very broad-based youth mental health task force.

The Lansdowne Road provision is for €130 million. That is just the general pay agreement and we will have to make provision for the more recent agreement. There is no provision for reimbursement of past losses.

I have a note on the legal services. The Department has two barristers on secondment from the Attorney General's office and one solicitor from the Chief State Solicitor's office.

The unit in which they work provides advice on a range of issues across the Department. There is in-house capability.