Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 29 November 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills

Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion

Ms Annie Sheppard:

That is a good question. We were talking about it on the way up. If someone came to me in the morning and was feeling suicidal or suffering with their mental health, I would not know who to go to and I think that is the problem. There are teachers, and Ms Murphy would probably be my first to go to because of the trust built up through doing YSI and having had her as a French teacher before. There has to be a level of trust and some people do not have that trust in the school. Even some of my friends would not dream of saying anything to some of the teachers or the counsellor. When someone is brave enough to ask for help, there needs to be help available. To answer the question, I do not know who I would go to.