Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I commend the Minister of State for all of her work so far. She is doing great work and it is greatly appreciated.

Mental health is an issue that I and my rural colleagues raised in our Private Members' motion in December, when we noted that Covid-19 was having a huge impact on people. We know that mental health is a serious issue in this State, without ever looking at any pandemic and the effects that is having. We have always grappled with getting to grips with mental health. We also know that a significant amount of work needs to be done to address the mental health fallout for students at primary and second level. I know there is a lot of uncertainty among leaving certificate students and I worry for them. I have mentioned this to the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, in a briefing we had and I hope that some certainty will be given to those students as soon as possible.

Last week, I submitted a parliamentary question asking the Minister for Education if the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, is sufficiently resourced and what plans were in place to recruit staff to NEPS to deal with the increase in psychological distress being caused to students as a result of Covid-19-related restrictions.

I welcome the fact that in her reply, the Minister of State confirmed that NEPS is providing student services aimed at managing stress, anxiety and panic attacks and that the number of sanctioned NEPS psychologists currently stands at 221, which includes an additional 17 psychological posts to support the well-being of school communities, but there is much more needed here. We have a tsunami coming at us and it affects people of all ages. We need to be prepared.

While progress in this area is welcome, it is alarming that the share of health funding being allocated to mental health in recent years has ranged from 5.7% to 6.3%. While, in 2019, it was 6.3%, it will fall dramatically to 5.2% in 2021. I ask for that to be looked at because there is an expected significant rise in demand for supports and services in the wake of this pandemic.

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