Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

When this announcement was made in last year's budget, we warned that it could lead to the end of career guidance as a profession, as well as impacting on the most vulnerable and disadvantaged students, especially those with mental health concerns. At the time the Minister assured us that schools would continue to provide guidance to their students and he was confident that schools would act in the best interests of students when determining precisely how to use the teaching resources available to them. However, the reality has turned out to be somewhat different. As a result of the cuts the Minister has implemented, schools are no longer managing to maintain a sufficient service. According to the president of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors, Mr. Gerry Flynn, the decision to remove guidance provision has led to a dismantling of a support service in schools that had taken years to establish. In addition, the decision is effectively institutionalising inequality in our schools, where only the students who can afford access to private counselling are in a position to get the help they require in certain instances. What meetings has the Minister had with representatives of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors to discuss the impact the cut is having on services in schools?

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