Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I listened to a debate last week on the lack of guidance counsellors in secondary education. There is a huge deficiency in that regard. It is an area that suffered from cutbacks in 2010 during the downturn in the economy. Those counsellors were never put back in place as they should have been. Guidance counsellors need to engage in secondary schools from second and third year. If some student knows he or she wants to be this or that, somebody should be there to tell that student what is now needed, what will be required in future, and whether he or she should be doing a language or taking on biology instead of physics and so on. It is a huge issue right across our secondary education.

When we compare guidance counsellors North and South, is there a gap whereby more guidance is needed in secondary schools to prepare people? I might be straying a little bit beyond the remit of what the witnesses are here for, but it is important we cover this too.