Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 18 October 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills

Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion

Mr. Craig Petrie:

Yes. The ESRI looked at a similar issue and published its report. Dr. Katriona O'Sullivan and her group compiled a report called A Qualitative Study of Child and Adolescent Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ireland. The Institute of Public Health has published a blog which is a study on the impact of Covid-19 on the mental health of people living on the island of Ireland. There is plenty of material for us to back up the numbers if we need to and I think it is more than anecdotal at this stage. That is important and that is why we quoted those reports because this issue is more than saying, "We think it might be more severe than we had feared." This really is what we have talked about for the past two or three years and it has landed with our staff now.