Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)

The Minister explained last night the reasons for the budget reduction. He is anxious to put in place the staffing allocation at 19:1 but, unfortunately, like every other Minister in this Government, he does not have the luxury of unlimited budgets. If he spends the money in one area, he has to make cuts in others.

I want to refer to the role played by guidance counsellors. While 42% of our schools do not have full-time guidance counsellors, those schools that have them value the service that is provided by counsellors, which must be acknowledged by all Deputies. From my discussions, I understand that guidance classes are very valuable and a time-effective way of presenting general information to students in regard to career choices, which are now extremely important, as other Deputies have said. It is a very difficult time for students given the issues of skills, college options, the CAO and so on. It is the individual appointments with students which are invaluable. In these sessions, the students have an opportunity to sit down on a one-to-one basis and talk to somebody about their problems. One guidance counsellor told me he deals with students who are suicidal, who are bullied and who have very low self-esteem.

Guidance counsellors play a very valuable role. I welcome the fact the Department of Education and Skills is to issue a circular in the coming weeks to further clarify the situation in regard to guidance.

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