Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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30. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will consider a proposal on behalf of mental health activists to make it mandatory for schools to insert an advertisement for Pieta House and its services on the inside cover of all school journals as a national mental health initiative and in particular to normalise accessing mental health services for young persons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2014/17]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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It is a tragic fact, but a fact nonetheless, that this country has one of the highest rates of youth suicide in Europe and also a very high incidence of self-harm among young people. It is a complex, multifaceted problem to address. A very simple proposal has been made by supporters of Pieta House and endorsed by Pieta House itself. The proposers and people from Pieta House are here with us in the Gallery today. The proposal is that an advertisement for Pieta House's services, the helpline for young people with suicidal feelings engaged in self-harm or experiencing suicidal bereavement, would be in the journal of all school students. It is a cost free, simple, practical proposal that the Minister could implement.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I will ask my officials to look at the possibility of doing what Deputy Boyd Barrett suggests. By way of context, it is down to individual schools to decide what material they put into their journals. There is not a central direction in respect of the material in journals that schools put together. It is up to the schools to develop them. What we do is provide guidelines for schools, both primary and post-primary schools, and emphasise the importance of connection to resources outside of the school. It is consistent with what Deputy Boyd Barrett said that we should look at how young people can get access to that information.

I am aware that already the HSE and my Department have been involved in some advertising campaigns which reference website such asspunout.ie, reachout.comand letsomeoneknow.ie, which in turn have links to Pieta House and other services of a similar nature. There is merit in doing that but I am conscious that schools ultimately are the leaders in the way in which they deal with the needs of the children in their care and they design the precise way they will implement the guidelines the Department sets.

That said, I am very keen to increase the impact of what we are doing in this area. We are rolling out guidance counselling this year, next year and in the years ahead. We are increasing NEPS facilities by 25% under the programme for Government. We are introducing well-being as a subject at junior cycle. There are a lot of trains, if one likes, leaving the station where we need to make sure that those resources we are putting in have a very strong impact on children who are struggling with mental health issues.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I welcome the Minister's positive response and the indication that he takes the proposal and this issue seriously. On another day I might debate the under-resourcing of mental health services for young people with the Minister for Health. The Minister has responded positively to this simple, practical and cost-free proposal. The Minister is probably aware that Pieta House is a fantastic charity. A total of 20,000 people have used its services in the past decade, with 5,000 using the service in 2015. Pieta House does not charge anything for its services and one does not need a doctor's referral to get through to it. This is an ideal opportunity to do something, essentially, to normalise access to services which support vulnerable young people who have suicidal feelings who are self-harming so that it just becomes part of the everyday environment that the services for Pieta House are available and young people know where to get them, and that there are no obstacles to accessing the services. I appeal to the Minister to ensure the information is made available in the way outlined in the proposal. I take the point that he cannot impose such an approach but could we issue guidelines suggesting it is done and request that schools would take up this very positive proposal?

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I will ask my officials to examine how this can be best approached. What we are trying to do is make sure that the school environment is one in which young people feel safe, supported, confident, resilient and have the ability to look for help for themselves and the confidence not to feel there is any stigma attached to looking for help and having the resources available either from directly going to a counsellor or other person within the school who can refer them on. We are very keen to have that sort of support for young people and the Deputy's suggestions are worthwhile in that context. I will get my officials to assess how we can integrate Deputy Boyd Barrett's suggestion.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I again thank the Minister for the positive response. Several of the recommendations of the Children's Mental Health Coalition highlight this sort of thing as being critical to helping young people with those issues. They include the need for more mental health promotion, for capacity of the primary care sector to increase accessibility of child and adolescent mental health services and for local alternatives to inpatient services. Again and again the coalition underlines the need for that accessibility for young people in particular. Every schoolchild has a homework journal so if we could progress the proposal and the information was there in front of them it would be a huge contribution to supporting vulnerable young people when they get into difficulty and ensure there are no obstacles or stigma attached to accessing the services of Pieta House. I look forward to working with the Minister to progress the issue, which I hope we can do together.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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My Department is represented on the task force chaired by the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, which specifically targets youth mental health. We are very keen that we come forward with initiatives through the education system that can support what is a very serious challenge for us. I look forward to developing the issue. I have undertaken an audit of our activity in this area with a view to sharpening the impact of what we do.