Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will give the Minister some context about why I am asking this question. First, I have met with many different students. This is a key issue that keeps coming up with the students' unions and broadly with the students as well. Galway is a place I know well. A GP came to me and said that because of the lack of adequate mental health supports within the universities, they are seeing a spillover into their own GP practices. That obviously comes at a cost for students and many students do not have access to that. Many students who have spoken to me, and I have asked them about this specifically, have said that they might get an appointment after waiting for a period, but when it comes to getting a follow-up appointment, etc., it just simply is not there.

I welcome that the Minister says this is a priority for him, and I hope we can see this reflected in the budget and through practical, on-the-ground supports in our universities.

See this speech in context