Ms Patricia O'Sullivan:

The Higher Education Colleges Association would like to express our gratitude to the Chair and members of the committee for the opportunity to address it today on this important issue. We have provided the committee with a detailed submission so I will limit my comments to some key points, primarily on mental health supports for higher education students.

To begin with, I would like to echo some of the points highlighted by my fellow colleagues and joint committee members over the last number of roundtable discussions. First, while it evident that Ireland has several positive initiatives to support students’ mental health, for example, the anti-bullying initiative, we are still struggling to cope with a national mental health crisis. Second, in general, we need greater focus and support for mental health promotion and preventative measures as well as more timely access and interventions for students in need of mental health services across the education cycle. Third, schools have the potential to identify young people who are experiencing emotional distress and to provide opportunities for early intervention in school settings which have the potential to reduce later mental health vulnerabilities. Fourth, teachers should not be positioned as replacements for mental health professionals. However, they should have appropriate resources, time and training to assist in promoting a culture of well-being for students as well as timely access to a joined-up system with services across health and education working locally together. Fifth, several studies have reported an increase in higher education student mental health problems, including anxiety, stress and depression. Nearly a decade ago, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, RCSI, report highlighted that young Irish people may have higher rates of mental ill-health in comparison with similarly aged young people in other countries. We also know that a third of young people of college entry age are reported to have experienced a mental health difficulty.

Without a doubt, the current generation of students are facing many challenges, including financial concerns, the cost-of-living crisis, the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and a national accommodation crisis, all of which can have negative effects on students’ mental health.

For students, unresolved or unsupported mental health problems are associated with several negative outcomes such as academic underperformance, increased risk of dropping out of education, poorer career prospects and, in the worst cases, suicide. International evidence indicates the importance of mental health supports in higher education in terms of responding to students who experience vulnerabilities and in promoting mental well-being in the student population. Therefore, it is extremely important that access to intervention resources designed to alleviate mental health issues in the student population is available across the higher education landscape.

Independent colleges provide quality assured programmes to more than 10% of the higher education student population and provide a variety of mental health and well-being services for their students. Our members support the wider body of legislation and good practice which places a responsibility on all education institutions, public and independent, to take steps to provide a supportive student environment on a range of issues, including health, welfare, disability, equal opportunity and discrimination. This recognises that students, irrespective of what institution they attend, may experience mental health challenges, can benefit from fostering well-being, and have a right to access appropriate, professional, evidence-based responses.

Placing these institutional responses in a HEA policy framework, such as the national student mental health prevention framework, has the potential to increase capacity and efficiency through knowledge and data sharing. I say "potential" because at present the independent sector is omitted from such sharing and excluded from national mental health resources, campaigns, funding, knowledge and data gathering. There is hope and evidence of change. For example, our members can now participate, and very much welcome our involvement, in the Department of Health and HSE funded national healthy campus initiative. This supports higher education institutions to embed health and well-being into campus life for staff and students. To be honest, it is difficult to see a rationale for the exclusion of one in ten of the higher education student population from national student mental health initiatives. How can this be a student-centred practice or even led by evidence-based outcomes when one in ten are left out? To add to the challenge, students at our colleges were excluded from the recent student cost-of-living financial supports as well as funds for students with disabilities, the student assistant fund, SUSI, the Covid-19 supports and the €5 million allocated to publicly funded higher education institutions to support mental health and well-being in 2020 and 2021.

The myth that students at independent colleges are somewhat immune to financial challenges that can, as we know, worsen mental health issues should also be challenged. There are students and potential students who study or wish to study QQI validated programmes at independent colleges from many under-represented groups, such as mature students, single parents, students with disabilities and students from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, who would greatly benefit from these supports. These supports are readily available to their fellow students in publicly funded colleges. We consider this approach discriminatory, inequitable and inherently unfair.

Independent higher education institutions are significant partners in fostering the mental health of students in Ireland and share a desire to support their student populations and help them to succeed. It is important that we have policies and data-driven decision making that supports a safe, healthy and inclusive environment for all students, whether in publicly funded or independent higher education institutions, regardless of their social background, race, self-identity or learning needs. There is also a need to recognise the various challenges that underpin mental health in the education cycle. I thank the committee.