Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not intend to revise the changes made in budget 2012 whereby guidance counselling is provided from within the overall staffing allocation of a school. This gives schools greater autonomy to determine how they deploy their teaching resources across the competing needs of schools. With economic recovery and as our budgetary position permits, when the Government is in a position to consider improving the teaching resources for schools, it would not be desirable to return to a situation where there would be a separate allocation for guidance in schools. The principal and leadership of a school should have discretion in deciding on how teachers are deployed for certain purposes. Furthermore, a separate allocation creates a false demarcation and creates an impression that supporting students through guidance and counselling is dependent exclusively on guidance counsellors. Guidance and counselling are a whole school responsibility, with guidance counsellors playing their part within an overall team approach.

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