Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Deputy that, in particular when it comes to things like mental health and well-being, we need to be really aware of these things. We need to support them and invest more in them and that is what we are doing. I also hope she will agree with me that we need to learn from the mistakes other jurisdictions have made where large numbers of students returned to campus and we saw what happened in terms of outbreaks of the virus. We need to be very careful and put the health and safety of staff, students and communities first. I know that is what students are saying. They have been extraordinarily responsible and helpful, contrary to the stereotypes that we hear from time to time. The USI campaign has been very helpful and it has worked with the Chief Medical Officer. Students asked me for certainty, as did university lecturers and staff. We now have certainty in terms of what this semester looks like. It is not what we would like it to look like and I accept the Deputy's challenge. I put this up to the universities. We have put a lot of extra money into mental health. The Deputy would argue we should do more and I take that point but I want to make sure that our students can continue to access that even if it is remotely. Things like mental health and the student assistance fund are now much better resourced than they were but we need to make sure the student who is at home can still access that support and our colleges need to reach out in that regard.

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