Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 5 April 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills

Future Funding of Higher Education: Discussion (Resumed)

Mr. Mark Smyth:

As Ms Murphy said, specifically on higher education, it is not just psychologists but counsellors, therapists and psychotherapists. It is a much more inclusive model of having mental health professionals in place. The internationally recognised benchmark is one therapist, counsellor or psychologist per 1,000 of the third level population. We know that is recommended but, again, we do not have, as far as I am aware, the benchmarks to know how many are currently in place.