Ms Lisa Molloy:

I echo what Mr. Smyth has said. It is fantastic that we are all here today and we all want the same outcome. In relation to the Dorset model, I am familiar with it but not in a very in-depth way. There are other models in the UK. I have spoken in the Irish Council for Psychotherapy submission about the school-based counselling model that is currently in every school in Wales. Every school in Wales and Northern Ireland has a school counsellor funded by the Government. There has been commitment from the Scottish Government for one in every school in Scotland and there are school counsellors in 60% of the schools in England. In relation to the primary schools pilot, the Minister has announced that she will be looking at various models as part of the pilot. There is a wealth of information and data that we can look to in relation to school-based counselling. We have very strong links with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, BACP. We have also been collaborating with the Irish Primary Principals' Network over the past number of months in putting forward a proposal in relation to a pilot for school- based counselling in primary schools. There is a lot that we can learn if we look to the Welsh experience. Ninety percent of the 11,753 children and young people who attended school-based counselling between 2018 and 2019 in Wales did not need onward referral after completing their sessions. There are models available that can show the efficacy of school counselling as an early intervention tool. It indicates a lessening of pressure on an overburdened CAMHS.