Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the witnesses' input and their very clear commitment to the very important work they are doing. Getting to the crux of it, establishing the links between all the services and education settings is very important. How we do that and support young people in school, families, community and social settings and how we marry all of that is very important. Non-formal and informal education have a big role to play in this regard. Sometimes that is where young people might open up that little bit more because they tend to be in smaller groups than they might be in a big classroom. Reference has been made to the difficulties that exist for teachers in terms of trying to give that extra support where it is needed.

I know that "the right care at the right time" is a phrase that has been used. I think that is the core of it.

Mr. Chambers was talking about links between the HSE services and on-site support in schools, which may also go back to Mr. Smyth's contributions. In terms of shared care treatment between CAMHS and schools, having that continuity is hugely important. He and another witness also mentioned telehealth in the context of using online supports. I know there has been a trend to go down that road, and that happened particularly during Covid. However, is there any research showing the advantages and the disadvantages? I appreciate it might be easier for a young person, rather than saying they have an appointment, if they can go into a bedroom and go online. They do not have to make a big deal if they do not want to share it. Do we have that research?

Mr. Power spoke about widening the pool in terms of all the different support networks, and Ms Molloy and Mr. Smyth came in very strongly on that. We have excellently trained psychotherapists and counsellors who unfortunately are not recognised by the HSE because of the registration process. They are fully accredited and trained. I believe there is a case and it is important while we have a lack of personnel to have a pathway for trained counsellors and psychotherapists to be able to support the need that is there. I would appreciate comments in relation to that.

Mr. Power also spoke about Zippy's Friends and Mindout. I was really impressed by a programme put in place in schools to effectively weed out bullying and check in and see where young people are at. Young people at the start of a class can say they are between one and ten on a scale. I thought that was incredibly useful for teachers and peers to pick up on where someone might be and be able to have support. In terms of Spunout being run by young people for young people, that peer support is really important.

Toxic stress and stress in young people's lives, which they may be carrying from home into school, was mentioned. We know from research that has been done, particularly in America, that young people really pick up on stress at home. It strikes me that many parents may not realise the effect of talking about challenges they are having, even in terms of the cost of living, etc. Ms Murray gave an example about the key being cut and the child being very stressed. While acknowledging that these stresses exist in homes, I think we need to raise awareness among parents and guardians of how that stress impacts on young people in their pathway through life. One of the submission papers stated that 60% of children have experienced a traumatic event. What is traumatic to one child may not be traumatic to another, for example, when we think of Covid or bereavement. A figure of 60% is massive. A lady from a cancer support group recently told me about much of the work the group has done on the impact of bereavement. We need to do more of that in a preventative way, rather than dealing with it when a child goes through bereavement. We need to normalise the whole grief and death process in as positive a way as we can during school and the education process.

Finally, Ms Molloy was talking about the whole school initiative and the schools-based counselling. We are delighted to see a pilot scheme here, but she was saying that it is in 60 countries, and is mandatory in 40 of them. I am interested in quickly hearing her view on that.