Ms Suzanne Connolly:

If I address the issue of children post Covid, Mr. Moffatt might speak about energy costs.

Across all of our services, we are aware that children are highly anxious, as are their parents. It is an uncertain time. It is important that children have access to a range of supports depending on the degree of their anxiety. At one level, classroom-based supports can be provided, whereby one talks in general to the class about how all feelings are okay, some of us get very anxious, some of us less so, and we can support one another. That is a universal-type service. Barnardos runs something called the recovery programme, which is part of our roots of empathy programme. It is concerned with normalising feelings of sadness, loss, anxiety and having no control.

However, some children need more than this because their anxiety is more worrying. They need access to individual support through a qualified project worker from an organisation like Barnardos. If they have a more serious level of anxiety, they need access to qualified mental health specialists. We know from our conversations that there is a significant gap because there is too lengthy a waiting list for psychology services.

There is an education link to this, as many children are anxious about their capacity to catch up because of how much schooling they have missed. If children were provided with reassurances that they would be given extra support in a school context, it would make a significant difference. I am delighted that schools are still open. That is essential in terms of the structure that school provides to children from a social and emotional point of view, not just an educational one. Evidence from a survey that we conducted during Covid showed that parents were well aware of this.