John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

With respect, the Tánaiste misses my point. At issue is the provision of one-to-one counselling, not group counselling. For example, when a student presents who is gay or experiencing a problem of a personal nature at home, he or she does not want to discuss the matter in group counselling and will require one-to-one counselling. What is the point of supplying schools with documents on health initiatives, bullying programmes and so forth if sufficient resources are not available to implement them?

My facts and figures are always correct and I speak to people who work on the coalface dealing with the problem. I have spoken to seven or eight school principals in Dublin and Waterford who believe the position has reached a critical point. Students presenting with serious problems are increasingly unable to discuss them with someone. In some other European countries, a social worker is employed in every school specifically to deal with problems associated with teenagers growing up. As a consequence, teenage depression, mental health issues and, ultimately, the problem of young people deciding to leave this planet by taking their lives, have been comprehensively addressed.

While I do not wish to criticise the Tánaiste, it is of little use paying lip-service to this problem. I urge the Tánaiste to speak to school principals and parents because they will tell him that counselling in schools is in crisis. They need one-to-one counselling as opposed to group counselling.

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