Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is provision in the budget for an additional 17 NEPS psychologist posts. There is also provision for 120 guidance counsellors to be made available in schools. Having worked in schools, I am very conscious of the importance of all kinds of well-being supports within schools, specifically guidance counsellors and NEPS psychologists, but also the wider context of well-being in school. I acknowledge that at its very core this is a key principle in all our schools, particularly during Covid. For this reason, there was a determined effort in the budget to increase the number of guidance counsellor and NEPS psychologist posts.