Mr. Hugh Ahern:

Is mór an onóir dom labhairt leis an gcoiste seo ar mheabhairshláinte i scoileanna agus tríú leibhéal. I am a student of the Patrician Academy, Mallow. I am currently in fourth year.

Before I begin, I would like to read out the definition of a mental illness from the American Psychiatric Association. It states a mental illness is "a syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning." It adds that "Mental disorders are usually associated with significant distress in social, occupational, or other important activities".

A report by the Oireachtas Library and Research Service on youth mental health in 2018 states that 13% of young people experience mental health issues, and national research shows that by the age of 24, over one in two young people in Ireland are likely to have experienced a mental disorder.

Mental health is one of the biggest issues that people of my generation will deal with in relation to health policy. That is why the Departments of Education and Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and Health must make it one of their top priorities. We need to act on this to change the scary statistic that one in two young people is likely to have experienced a mental disorder. We must ask ourselves why it is happening and why the numbers are so bad. As all young people now grow up with social media, I believe social media and social pressures play a large role in these figures. That is why I am putting forward eight key recommendations that I believe this committee should consider for its final report.

First, there should be a counsellor for every primary school and post-primary school in every local electoral area across the country. This would result in there being one or two counsellors that would cover every school in that local electoral area. Second, every primary and secondary school should create a wellbeing charter or policy, as this would generate more awareness of wellbeing. Third, a wellbeing grant should be considered so schools could invest more in activities and services for wellbeing. Fourth, we should increase the hours for physical education in secondary and primary schools. Fifth, the number of National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, assessments and education psychiatrists should be increased to enable more children to be catered for. Sixth, access to all information services concerning support for mental health should be improved.

Seventh, there should be a joint office in conjunction with the HSE, the Department of Health, the Department of Education, the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, and Tusla established in each county. Then there should be a district liaison for each school and higher education institution in the local electoral area. This office would be responsible for ensuring that each school and higher education institution, and students, receive the correct support and services. It would monitor the service delivery for the region and it should be required to submit a quarterly report to the Minister for that responsibility.

Eighth, student engagement is a critical part of mental health as engaging with young people can help alleviate stress. That is why I believe that the Departments and agencies should develop a buddy programme for schools as the transition from primary to post-primary, and the transition from post-primary to higher education, are difficult steps for many.

I hope my contribution is of benefit to this committee and I am more than happy to answer questions that members may have.