Mr. Gary Honer:

I welcome the opportunity to discuss mental health supports in schools and tertiary education at this roundtable discussion. It is a complex issue as the supports available to both students and staff are unfortunately quite varied.

According to a recent report in The Irish Times, a study by Maynooth University, National College of Ireland and Trinity College Dublin found more than 40% of Irish adults have a mental health disorder. However, the people most likely to have a mental health disorder were younger and likely to have suffered a traumatic life event.

In respect of the members we represent, SNAs are specifically affected. When a traumatic event occurs in a school community the first response is the arrival of NEPS at the school. When NEPS leaves, however, it is the SNAs who assist the students in their times of need. Often, the traumatic event is compounded for these students by their additional needs.

We must have a holistic approach to tragic events, one that encompasses the entire community, including management, teachers, SNAs, secretaries, caretakers, parents and siblings. They all need to have access to a community-based mental health service as a tragedy is a tragedy. There must be a more structured approach. We have heard many personal accounts many months after a tragedy, up to eight months later. For example, when a student passes away, a student under the care of an SNA may pull out a book or toy that happened to be the favourite of their deceased classmate and that child is brought back to the grief and loss of their friend. While NEPS provides a valuable service, it unfortunately only deals with students in the moment and at a particular point in time.

It is vital that SNAs are given access to appropriate training and support that allow them to support the mental health needs of the students they work with. SNAs are often overlooked in this regard, which is unfortunate given the close bond and rapport that exists between SNAs and the students they work with. There is a lack of recognition for SNAs as a professional grade, for example, in comparison with social workers. Social workers have a defined career hierarchy and support structure, with senior and principal social workers, which encourages reflective practice and child-centred interventions based on the individual child's needs. Sadly this type of professional infrastructure does not exist for SNAs, but it should. Through the introduction of school-based mental health supports at primary level, there is an opportunity to strengthen and protect the mental well-being of children while also supporting their parents, teachers and SNAs. This could also lead to a reduction in the number of children who require specialist mental health treatment.

Staff members can have mixed experiences when dealing with their employers on the subject of mental health and well-being.

According to Mind, a UK-based mental health charity, more than one in five or 21% agreed they have called in sick to avoid work when asked how workplace stress had affected them; 14% agreed they had resigned and 42% had considered resigning when asked how workplace stress had affected them; 30% of staff disagreed with the statement, "I would feel able to talk openly with my line manager if I was feeling stressed"; and 56% of employers said they would like to do more to improve staff well-being but do not feel they have the right training or guidance.

As regards the Department of Education, while it has extensive policies on the well-being and health of children and young people, which are to be commended, for those policies to be realised it must support the workers who in turn will support the students and young people they work with on a daily basis. It has fallen to the trade union movement to provide employee assistance programmes to its members, whereas this should be provided as a matter of course by the Department for all of its staff. Furthermore, as I mentioned earlier, appropriate training and support must be afforded to special needs assistants who are working at the coalface in schools along with their teaching colleagues. However, a disparity exists in this regard as teachers can avail of extra personal days, EPV days, or as they are more colloquially known, "course days", whereas special needs assistants, SNAs, cannot. As well as that Mental Health Ireland only offer their “Mind-out” course to teachers and youth workers. The Mind-out programme that was developed by the Health Promotion Research Centre at NUI Galway and the HSE’s health promotion and improvement department has been proven to strengthen young people's social and emotional coping skills and improve their overall mental health and well-being. It is a question that Fórsa raises here today as to why SNAs have not been included in the roll-out of this programme?

Barnardos children’s charity who work with some of Ireland’s most vulnerable families have a saying that every childhood lasts a lifetime. SNAs want to support the totality of a child’s and young person’s development, but they must be given access to training and support to allow them to acquire and develop the skills to protect, nurture and support the mental health and the well-being of the students that they work with. The Department of Education needs to recognise the valuable contribution that SNAs can make in preventing poor mental health and ensuring that all of our children and young people thrive in the school community. I thank the committee for their time today and Fórsa are happy to answer any questions that the committee may have.