Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the question. I know it is an area on which he has advocated very strongly. I am very pleased that the counselling pilot has been well received. The Department of Education is committed to supporting the emotional well-being of our children and I am pleased to provide an update on the significant progress that has been made on strands 1 and 2 of the pilot in almost 650 primary schools across the country. I am also pleased to announce that the Department has secured additional funding in budget 2024 to continue the pilot for an additional year, until June 2025.

The pilot includes two strands. Strand 1 will see the provision of one-to-one counselling to support a small number of children in all primary schools in counties Cavan, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo, Monaghan and Tipperary. Considerable work has been undertaken to identify suitably qualified, experienced and accredited counsellors. In the absence of a single recognised counselling qualification and a national regulatory body for counselling in Ireland at this time, the Department initially liaised with the three largest accrediting bodies for counsellors in Ireland, namely, the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, IACP, the Psychological Society of Ireland, PSI, and the Irish Association of Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapists in Ireland, IAHIP. The Department has subsequently liaised with additional associations and is now also accepting applications from counsellors accredited with the Irish Association of Psychotherapy and Play Therapy, IAPPT, the Association of Child Art Psychotherapists, ACAP, and those registered with the Irish Council for Psychotherapy, ICP.

Due to the highly sensitive nature of providing counselling for children, the application and vetting process for these counsellors requires significant time and attention in order to ensure the highest quality in this landmark pilot project. However, I am very pleased to advise that we will be in touch with schools in the coming weeks in relation to the initial allocation of counselling hours to schools. Schools, in consultation with a NEPS psychologist, and guided by the Department of Education’s continuum of support, will identify the children who may benefit most from this counselling service, which will be subject to parental or legal guardian informed consent.

Strand 2 will see the establishment of a new type of support to schools from education well-being teams and the introduction of well-being practitioners to support clusters of schools in Cork, Carlow, Dublin 7 and Dublin 16.

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