Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he has conducted an audit of the impact that cuts to guidance and counselling services at second level made in Budget 2012 is having on the student population; and the measures he plans to take to ensure that the needs of students are adequately catered for. [43235/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The day-to-day management of teaching resources in schools is done at local school level. It is not something I intend to audit as suggested by the Deputy. It is established policy that guidance is a whole-school activity and under existing arrangements each school develops a school guidance plan as a means of supporting the needs of its students. I am confident schools will act in the best interest of students.

I acknowledge that the reduction in resources to second level schools is challenging for schools. However, the budget measure that requires schools to manage the provision of guidance from within their standard staffing allocation, the alternative to which was to make an adjustment to the standard staffing schedule, must be seen in the context of our very difficult budgetary constraints. As part of the budgetary measure, my Department helped shelter the impact for DEIS post-primary schools by improving their standard staffing allocations.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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In the last month or so, as schools have come back for the new term, we have started to see the real impact on students on the ground of the Minister's decision in last year's budget to abolish the ex quota allocation of hours for guidance counselling. When the Minister removed the ex quota allocation last year, he told schools they had to make do with the guidance provision and take it from their standard teaching hours instead. That has put all schools across the country under pressure in terms of the service they used to be able to provide. In many cases, it has led to a vast reduction in the number of guidance hours being provided.

A recent unfortunate incident in County Wexford has received widespread media coverage. A student who was seeking to see a guidance counsellor, but was not able to do so, was subsequently hospitalised. When this was brought to the attention of the Department of Education and Skills, an additional allocation of 11 hours was provided to the school. That happened after the event. There is an onus on the Minister to ask for an assessment across the rest of the country so we can see the impact this cut is having. It is not good enough for the Minister to respond after a serious incident. If the school in question needed an additional 11 hours, why would other schools across the country not need additional hours as well?

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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We do not yet have the full story in that particular case. The school in question has been in contact with the Department and additional resource hours have been made available. As it is one of the largest schools in the country - if not the largest - it faces certain pressures. The emphasis in the job description of those who look after the welfare of young people in our schools appears to have moved more towards the provision of counselling, as distinct from career guidance. That is the responsibility of the entire school and its staff. A comprehensive article on pages 8 and 9 of the health supplement in today's edition of The Irish Times goes into this issue in some depth. I will bear in mind what the Deputy has said and keep it under review.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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I do not think it is sufficient to "keep it under review" in this instance. We have already seen the impact this change has had in the first month of the school year. There is an onus on the Minister to engage with schools across the country. He has said this is now the responsibility of each school, but the reality is that the cut provided for in last year's budget has made it exceptionally difficult for schools to continue to provide these services. There is an onus on the Minister to engage with schools. If other schools approach the Minister to point out that they have been unable to provide the guidance counselling service required by their students, will he respond as he did in the County Wexford case? I hope that can be done before similar situations arise in other schools throughout the country.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I will consider the Deputy's comments, but I will not make policy on the hoof in this regard. There are more than 360,000 pupils in the post-primary sector.