Results 1,101-1,120 of 1,730 for speaker:Aisling Dolan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Nov 2022)

Aisling Dolan: I thank Dr. Muldoon. Deputy Conway-Walsh will have time to contribute again. I will make a few points before inviting members to speak again, as needed. I thank the witnesses for attending, for their commitment and for their opening statements. It is great to hear how rich the initiatives are between, for example, libraries and Barnardo's. It is fantastic to see: Fighting Words, the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Nov 2022)

Aisling Dolan: I am 100% behind Ms Connolly on that. There has to be an evidence base for any programme. That is where we are bringing the academics in as well. Things like the randomised clinical trials are crucial because they will drive policy and we can drive it within our Departments if we can show the benefits and impacts in an evidence-based way. My next question is for Dr. Muldoon. The Chair...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Nov 2022)

Aisling Dolan: It is also to build on the pilot it is hoped will be delivered through the Department of Education and the €5 million funding that is being rolled out. I will bring in the other members here and I may come back with more questions at the end.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Nov 2022)

Aisling Dolan: Would Deputy Ó Laoghaire like to come back in?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Nov 2022)

Aisling Dolan: Mr. Kelly is the founder and CEO, Grow It Yourself, which created the GROW at School programme. Is it correct that the programme has been in existence for four years?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Nov 2022)

Aisling Dolan: At the moment the programme is in 132 primary schools. Mr. Kelly stated in his opening statement that he has the great ambition "to roll it out to 1,600 schools by 2024, which would be half of all primary schools in the State". GROW at School is a wonderful initiative. I always think of primary schools in more rural areas like in counties Roscommon and Galway, and the west. One would...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Nov 2022)

Aisling Dolan: Of course the schoolchildren get to eat the fruits of their labour.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Nov 2022)

Aisling Dolan: Yes. I must admit that I grew up on a farm. We had a garden and, my God, when the peas became ripe I could be found sitting in the garden eating them as they were so tasty. It was a similar story with baby potatoes. It is so wonderful to discover the wonderful taste and sweetness of fruit and vegetables that are grown in one's own garden.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Nov 2022)

Aisling Dolan: Learning where food comes from is a great gift to give to children in school.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Nov 2022)

Aisling Dolan: When Ms Moran refers to the JCSP library project, how many schools does that involve?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Nov 2022)

Aisling Dolan: That is primary schools.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Nov 2022)

Aisling Dolan: The programme is in 223 primary schools.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Nov 2022)

Aisling Dolan: The JCSP is in 30 post-primary schools and there are school libraries in 223.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Nov 2022)

Aisling Dolan: And as early as possible at primary school level, before secondary.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Nov 2022)

Aisling Dolan: Those recommendations were in the report.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Nov 2022)

Aisling Dolan: I thank Ms Moran. That is crucial. A secondary school in my town recently joined the DEIS programme as well. It is crucial that we get all services delivered. I have two final questions. The first is for Dr. Muldoon. The Department of Health established the national youth mental health task force in 2017. Dr. Muldoon might be able to describe the efforts to engage with relevant...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Nov 2022)

Aisling Dolan: I might just read out a question from Senator Flynn that she passed on to me. In the note, she apologises for her absence today. She is speaking at the national Traveller mental health conference in Croke Park, so cannot be here. She notes: This week is college awareness week, and students across the country are planning their paths to college as we speak. Unfortunately, only 1% of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Nov 2022)

Aisling Dolan: I thank Ms Tara Kelly, clerk of the committee, who has just reminded me that it was Ms Sarah Stockham, clinical lead, Dorset mental health support team, who attended the committee on 8 November. In their final statements I ask each of the witnesses to give us one key recommendation they believe would make a significant difference to mental health supports in our schools, both primary and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Nov 2022)

Aisling Dolan: And also to have some fun.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Nov 2022)

Aisling Dolan: So, we need a new title. In her submission, Ms Moran spoke about one good adult, which is an unusual term. One would assume that in a child's life there would be a few people but I suppose this refers to a trusted person to whom they can speak in confidence and in a safe space. As she said, libraries provide a safe space and we should expand that within our school libraries. Space is an...