Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
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I thank all the witnesses. There is a wide range of expertise before the committee. Regarding young people's mental health, we hear it the whole time in our schools that children are not communicating the way they used to pre-Covid. We are hearing from teachers, principals and parents that there is an impact. It is great that we have a lot of our school activities back and people are going back out to clubs. Parents are giving time and volunteering in areas all around. I am in a rural myself. I am representing Roscommon - Galway but am from Ballinasloe, so I know some of the groups.

As Senator O'Loughlin has said, the online supports are crucial, particularly in rural areas where one can not travel two or three hours to get to a city centre location to speak to someone face to face. Being able to access online supports has been a game changer in many ways. I am very supportive of that.

I very much welcomed Together All. I know that is being rolled out under the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and that funding was allocated to have access for students at third level. I know it is a UK programme but it is evidence based and it is run by professionals. When we had our universities and colleges before the committee my question was around how was that being promoted. I ask the witnesses to comment on that. We have all these services. How are the services being promoted at a local level or within colleges and universities around access to initiatives like Together for All?

I appreciate the counselling and primary care. I only discovered that recently. I know it is through the GPs and perhaps the witnesses can talk about GPS who refer this. The Health Care and Day Hospital in Ballinasloe gave me a ton of leaflets on CIPC and explained how this was an amazing service that is done through a GP. In rural areas, more than likely the GP is the first port of call for someone who is going through an episode. Likewise, if a person wants to talk about a loved one or family member, the GP is the first port of call. I think the promotion of this service is very important. People are aware when they go to the GP they can be put in referral to the counselling and primary care.

It is great that there are 73 CAMHS teams. Eating disorders are a major issue. Community Health Care West has an eating disorders team. I do not know if Mr. Chambers wants to mention anything else on that. I thank him for his presentation.

I thank Ms Molloy from IACP. It represents 5,000 members. That is absolutely phenomenal. We have one in four schools now with access to DEIS. I know a lot of those services particularly around school completion and HSCL have moved from Tusla back into the Department of Education. All our schools need access to supports but in particular our DEIS schools might have particularly vulnerable cohorts. That is a point that I would not mind a bit of focus on. The IACP might have comments on that.

SPHE was also mentioned. How much time is been allocated, realistically, in examination years to SPHE when students are perhaps going through really pressurised times? Are we delivering these counselling supports and is it being done through SPHE? I am sure if it was in Ms Molloy's statement. Apologies if not and if anyone else wants to comment, please do.

I thank Ms Logue for contributing on the psychotherapy side. I think she mentioned absences in schools. In those DEIS schools there is a home school community liaison officer. I would be looking to see what the HSCL co-ordinator in those schools is reporting when it comes to absences in schools.

I thank Ms Jennings from the ISPCC. It is great about the helplines. The organisation and all its volunteers do a phenomenal job. It is great to hear about Smart Moves and any comments on it would be appreciated. Transition from primary to post-primary and from secondary into third level are difficult periods.

Can Ms Jennings indicate how many schools participate in Smart Moves? There are 4,000 schools. How many of them are doing the programme. How many have engaged? Is it an online process? It is great to hear that it is for parents and guardians as well.

Well done to Mr Power from Spunout. I knew one of the members of the team in a previous existence. I sing the 50808 song and I have been doing so for the past year and a half. I mention it whenever I can. It is a phenomenal text line service that anyone can access 24-7. Well do to everyone who works at Spunout in terms of the 4,000 calls fielded per month. Spunout has made a difference to a lot of people's lives at a really difficult time over the past two or three years. All of the witnesses do great work in their roles. It is great to hear about the engagement on Instagram and TikTok. I probably need to do that myself. Any other comments on these matters would be very welcome.

On SilverCloud and cognitive behavioural therapy, I am such an advocate of seeing more of this online. From what I can see, it is crucial in the context of early intervention. It is important in terms of people being able to engage and then accelerating matters to make sure that there is access, in a timely way, to one-to-one supports. We have to realise that there are long waiting lists. If we can get to people with early intervention, that is crucial.

I would like to say well done to Jigsaw on Innovate Together and One Good School. How many schools are participating in the One Good School initiative?

I apologise for asking so many questions. Perhaps they will allow the witnesses to promote the programmes they are doing and help us understand the situation that obtains at primary, secondary and third level.