Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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One of the recommendations of the report on school bullying was that there should be a therapeutic counsellor on-site in schools to help students. I have spoken to the INTO on this and in recent days I spoke to the clerk to the committee on it as well. There is a programme running in the south of the UK. I hope the committee will discuss this in September and visit the UK to look at the programme rolled out there in respect of therapeutic counsellors. The therapeutic counsellor would be a person who is on-site in primary and post-primary schools so that a student does not have to make a phone call to get help. For example, a therapeutic counsellor could be in the school in Carnew on Mondays and Tuesdays and in Gorey Community School on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. It would depend on the size of the school. This person would be very well known to the students and teachers.

Home-school liaison officers have made an immense difference in schools. I presume there is a home-school liaison officer in our guests’ school. They are there to find out if there are issues back in the home. The therapeutic counsellors would be on-site in schools.

Do the witnesses believe something like that would be of assistance to students and that students would be more comfortable in going to talk to someone on-site who they know is there for them and who is fully confidential?