Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)

I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 31 to raise a matter of national importance, namely, the findings of a study into depression among post-primary students in the north east region of Cavan, Monaghan, Louth and Meath, which recorded the highest incidence nationally, at 20%, of significant levels of depression among post-primary students; the fact that the most likely to experience depression were young persons from single-parent families, or those with low levels of physical fitness; the fact that males and females with low self-esteem were more than 13 times more likely to have depressive symptoms; and the urgent need for innovative school-based programmes with the emphasis on a preventative approach to student depression.

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