Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 15 November 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills

Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education

Mr. Ian Power:

I thank Senator Dolan for her question. I should point out in respect of DEIS - I think the Senator made this point as well - that a high proportion of the children and young people who meet the deprivation threshold actually go to schools that are not categorised as DEIS. As such, the point about making sure supports are available in all schools is really well made.

In terms of SpunOut, it is really important that we are providing mental health literacy information to places where young people are, for example, Instagram and TikTok. Advertising on those platforms is really expensive. We have been trying to get the platforms to help us out in terms of making that information available to their users in Ireland. I will pass on the Senator's thanks to the 50808 volunteers. Hundreds of people around the country log in on their laptops from their couches every evening to support other people, which is amazing.