Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations this morning. The participation of the young people here is hugely important to our work in Leinster House and in Ireland's future. Hearing their voices, I am just blown away. Evan's point about the limitations of the curriculum is so important. High-stakes testing takes a real toll on students' mental health. That is a theme here today. It leads to a very narrow conception of academic success. What kind of exam alternatives would the witnesses like to see?

The VR project Niamh spoke about sounds fascinating. Digital literacy is vital in our modern economy and in creating safe spaces and an attractive alternative to the very chaotic and potentially harmful spaces that currently exist. This might be an older person's question so forgive me for this. Do the witnesses have any worry that young people already experiencing too much screen time and that moving social spaces online could further limit old-fashioned in-person socialisation?

Karina and Ashling are both amazing. I agree with everything my colleague Senator Currie said there. It is horrific to hear what they have gone through. That should not be happening today. I am Chair of the Joint Sub-Committee on Mental Health. After hearing the stories and presentations today, I would like to invite Karina and Ashling to come before our committee as part of our work. We have dealt with this issue in that we have had CAMHS and the HSE come in but I am not sure we have ever really had these voices, and we need to hear them. I would invite somebody like Blair from the Northern Ireland Youth Forum to come in as well. The more young people's voices we hear on this issue, the better. I will follow up on that going forward. I thank the witnesses so much. They are so brave. Their courage today will help others to speak out, which is vital.