Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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1. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he is satisfied with the current level of mental health supports available to third level students; and if further investment is planned; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26576/25]

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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I want to raise the pressing issue of the mental health crisis among third level students. We are failing our young people in this regard. The mental health services available to students in our colleges and universities are underfunded, understaffed and overwhelmed. Is the Minister satisfied with the current level of mental health supports available to third level students and is further investment planned?

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate the Deputy raising this important issue, as the mental health and well-being of our third level students is a matter of deep concern and ongoing priority for this Government. The Government and my Department remain committed to enhancing mental health supports across the sector. My Department has allocated a total of €32 million to support higher education institutions in meeting the mental health and well-being needs of students since 2020.

This funding supports institutions in directly meeting the needs of students through counselling services as well as delivering the national student mental health and suicide prevention framework. As autonomous institutions, the exact disbursement of the funding is a matter for each institution depending on its own prioritisation of needs. They are entitled to do this because they are independent from the perspectives of management and governance. They have been advised to distribute the funding in support of specific student-facing areas, such as the recruitment of additional student counsellors and assistant psychologists, head of service posts, training and awareness raising. We can offer advice, but they ultimately retain discretion over how the funding is allocated.

The majority of new posts created through this funding have been counsellors, reflecting the capacity-building phase of the implementation of the framework. Over recent years, there has been a mixture of core funding and once-off Covid support funding, but as of 2020, €5 million annually is being allocated on a recurrent, sustainable basis. I mentioned that over that time, €32 million has been allocated. Institutions can also draw resources from other areas within their overall Exchequer and other funding sources. A number of other funds are available to them, which I might return to later because there is quite a list. I will refer to those when I hear where the Deputy's next question is going.

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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I am glad to hear that the Minister is going to put funds into this. It is a very hard issue for students to deal with. Some of the issues they are dealing with include the skyrocketing cost of accommodation or even the type of accommodation they live in. Some students are just leaving home and are stuck in accommodation that is not working for them. Mental health should be treated with the same urgency and importance as physical health. Many are juggling work and study just to keep their heads above water. One of the findings of a survey done my colleague Deputy Conway-Walsh was that one in four first-year students was not aware of the mental health supports and counselling services available to them. One solution to the problem would be just letting them know that the services are available and can be accessed.

The existing funding framework for mental health services in higher education is insufficient. It is resulting in underfunded and understaffed counselling and healthcare services on campuses. At this time, I am not aware whether the additional funding will be enough to bring services back up to the proper ratio.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Some examples of the types of projects being supported through that funding include the national student counselling database implementation project. This facilitates the identification of trends in the mental health needs of students attending student counselling services. It measures and monitors what trends are coming through from access to counselling services and identifies areas for further attention.

There is a platform called Togetherall, which provides 24-7 peer support. Psychological counsellors in Higher Education Ireland are being supported in their work, through the higher education institutions. Research and co-ordination around suicide and self-harm is being performed on an ongoing basis. A screening tool that is being developed selects the most appropriate person-centric interventions for students with mental health presentations. This tracks the well-being outcomes of students who engage with the service. A national health and well-being assessment tool has been developed to enable institutions to implement and progress the healthy campus charter and framework. There is also an ongoing review of the national student mental health and suicide prevention framework. A lot of actions are being taken and a lot of good projects are under way. These are meaningful and impactful for the individual students, as well as for the host institutions. Ultimately, the institutions retain autonomy as to what other projects they may wish to implement.

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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The counsellor-student ratio should be 1:1,000 but at the moment I think it we are at 1:1,500. We need to bridge this gap. I am glad to hear about Togetherall and that it is a 24-7 service but is there a waiting list for it? Students struggling with their mental health today should not have to wait weeks for help. They should not have to choose between paying rent or paying for therapy and they definitely should not have to suffer in silence. I believe that the Minister will be willing to work on this and I know I will continue to push until all students have been listened to and their burden in respect of mental health is helped. This is a very serious issue and we all should be working towards a solution.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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If we consider some of the ratios, one counsellor for every 1,000 students was the suggestion from the International Accreditation of Counseling Services, IACS, to which the Deputy referred. There are different views about that report as to whether that is the optimal way to measure ability and whether that is the right metric but I certainly note what the Deputy is saying. The national student mental health and suicide prevention framework, which I mentioned, has identified that in an Irish context, there remains a need to develop a public indicator. The questions are what the correct indicator for us in this system is and how we can manage and ensure that adequate provision is being made for different students. This work is ongoing with the HEA at the moment to see what an appropriate metric in our system is.

Regarding the retention rate, there are many reasons for students dropping out. Mental health may often be one but there is a variety of other reasons. The non-progression rate fell slightly in 2021-22, from 13% to 11%. I do not have the figures for the most recent years but it is beginning to go in the right direction. There can be complex reasons that students do not progress. It is not only to do with mental health.