Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The programme for a partnership Government strongly reasserts the central role of education. Indeed, the very first line is, "Education is the key to giving every child an equal opportunity in life." There are plans to commit a huge amount of extra investment in our education system at every level. I recognise what Deputy Micheál Martin says about the importance of guidance counselling. We had to take extremely difficult decisions because of the cycle of boom and bust our country was in. There is a commitment in the programme for a partnership Government to reduce primary school class sizes, reintroduce guidance counselling to secondary schools and increase financial supports for postgraduate students with a particular focus on those from low-income households. As the Deputy said, this was part of the discussions in respect of forming the programme for a partnership Government. There is a very clear commitment to reintroduce guidance counselling. Based on my own experience, I believe it is extremely important in terms of identifying issues in schools, dealing with mental health issues and working in a preventative way with children who need particular advice and support. That will be discussed during the Estimates and there will clearly be consultation in the appropriate committee about how this reintroduction will be carried out in the coming year.

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