Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her attendance on a Thursday evening. I recognise a huge amount of work has been done in this area. I acknowledge the work of the Minister of State and that of the Minister, Deputy Foley, in taking on a huge number of the recommendations we made in the committee report. It is heartening for me, as the Chair, and for the committee staff and members when a Minister of State and a Department take on a report and implement a number of the recommendations. I acknowledge that under the Minister of State's leadership, the budget for mental health supports has increased over the years. We all acknowledge that no matter what we put into mental health, it will never be enough. We all want more but I know as a former Minister of State that you have to fight for your budget and funding. You do not just go in and ask and get what you want; you have to prove what you are doing. Once you do your work, you will get your funding increased. I welcome the youth mental health office. It is very welcome in the Department. I am aware of the amount of work needed between the Department of Education, the Department of Health, the HSE and other specific agencies in working together. It is the Department of Education, or the Department of Health and the HSE, which provide services in primary and post-primary schools. I cannot stress enough the importance of extending services to post-primary schools. When the Minister for Education was before the committee recently, we mentioned the Dorset model. The committee went over there to look at it, which was beneficial. It was a two-day trip. We learnt so much. Many of the recommendations in the report came from that visit.

Of the ten recommendations, quite a number have been implemented or are about to be. I agree with the Deputy opposite; it is about measuring how the recommendations work in real terms. That is an important point. The Minister of State spoke about stresses during the junior and leaving certificates. I think everybody in this House has gone through some form of examination and is aware of the stresses and strains that can bring. Even now, while the leaving and junior certificates have changed over the years, they have not really. The stress and strain are still there for students. In our reform of the leaving certificate report, something that came through the whole time was strain and stress on students. We are in a different era. There are different stresses and strains on young people compared with what there was years ago. I appeal to the Department to look seriously at the reform of our examinations system. There is a better and easier way that would come out with the same results. I think we can even do better. It is about change. We must never be afraid of change.

An area prevalent in the report and raised every day on the radio and in talking to school teachers, students or parents is social media. This needs to be prioritised by this and future governments. It can be done by all political parties and none because we are all in the same space on this matter. I would like the Department of Education to work on one policy. I know it is up to different boards of management in schools and principals to work it out. We should stress that we need one policy by which students should not have their mobile phones during the school day. In some schools in my county, students put their phones into pouches, lock them and the phone is not released until that evening. If you go to other schools, you can have it in your pocket and use it here and there. That is wrong. It would be easy for the Minister and Department to have one policy going forward on this issue. Such a policy would be welcomed by all parents and I think students would welcome it too for their concentration levels. We all have mobile phones and look at them. We cannot do without them for two minutes. We look at them to see what is on them. We are adults, so you can imagine what children are like with all these apps and platforms they can use. The Minister, the Department and the Government can work on that issue to have one common policy, even if that is just one thing that comes out of this debate. It is not a specific recommendation in the report, but a train of thought mentioned by everybody was the bullying and everything that happens on mobile phones. I thank the clerk of the committee, Tara, and acknowledge the work of the policy officers from the committee, David, Julian and Peter.

They do a huge amount of preparation work and everything like that. I acknowledge that but, most importantly, the work and input made by the members of the committee to this report is really welcome. As Chair, I appreciate their input. The most important thing is that we are in this Chamber this evening because of the committee report. The Minister of State has taken on the recommendations. Some have been put in place by the Department and that is what committee work is all about. This is not a waste of time. It is not a report sitting on a shelf. The work is receiving attention from the Minister of State and the Department. I again thank the Ceann Comhairle, the House and the Members for allowing us to debate this important committee report.

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