Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was interested in the Minister of State's response to the question of how we deal with the whole area of mental health, particularly with regard to the stresses that teachers are under, because it is a growing issue. If one speaks to any representatives from the teaching unions, they will tell one that it is a growing problem and something that must be addressed. Various initiatives being undertaken by individual schools could be examined more closely by the Department to determine whether they could be expanded on a pilot-project basis. If the Government is going to continue to put pressure on the teaching profession, through cuts in pay and working conditions - I do not want to get into that argument now - then that will obviously have a trickle-down effect on the students. As a parent and someone who sends my children to school, I am relying on the teachers, the principal and those working within the school environment to care for my children while they are in that environment but if those individuals are suffering from their own stresses and pressures, then the care provided might not be what it should be. An increasing number of teachers are taking sick leave and much of that is down to mental health problems, stress and strain. This is something the Department must examine. It must look at initiatives in individual schools, as in the example just given by Deputy Wallace regarding a project in a school in his constituency. Such projects are being replicated right across the State and the Department must assess whether they can be expanded on a pilot-project basis.

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