Mr. Martin Byrne:

I thank the committee for inviting us and listening to us. I am a third year student in ICHAS in Limerick. I hope to be a counsellor and then to go on to be a psychotherapist. I am eligible for the grant. I attended the University of Limerick for a year to study health and safety but left after one year due to mental health reasons. I suffered from depression and the course did not suit me but I was drawn to studying counselling. My college is one of the very few colleges that provide training in counselling. The closest such college to Limerick is Cork but there are two further away in Dublin and Maynooth. These three colleges were the only QQI-accredited courses in counselling that I could find. Unfortunately, we do not get a grant.

For members who do not know, ICHAS is a very small college. I can see the University of Limerick, UL, from my college and all I have to do is look out of the door and I can see it. The only difference is that I am across the road. When I crossed the road I immediately lost my grant. This year I have to undertake work experience for my course. For every five hours of work experience I must have an hour of supervision that costs me €50 per hour and I need 25 hours of supervision. I have no subsidies to pay for this. My work experience has eaten into the time that I can work, as it depends on when a person is available to see me. If there is time later in the meeting I wish to go into more detail about my story but for now I will hand over to Mr. James Roberts.