Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the presence of the vice president of the IGC, Ms Catriona Rodgers, who takes on the role voluntarily and does not get paid. She has been stellar in her work with me. I hear all the time from two friends I have grown up with who have been guidance counsellors for 25 years, but Ms Rodgers still managed to educate me much further than I was previously on the whole challenge around guidance counselling. I also acknowledge that I had a meeting earlier with the Minister. Senator Gallagher and I sat down with Ms Rodgers and three people from the Department, including the Minister. I was very grateful to have that time.

Several issues were referenced, including CAMHS this and CAMHS that. The bottom line is that guidance counsellors are on the front line of the mental health crisis among our young people that we face. That is why I kept the motion very pointed and focused. We get distracted by saying things that are populist and so on but, at the end of the day, it is young people I am concerned about. Guidance counsellors are with young people five days a week from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. We have to take more seriously the fact that they are in contact with young people, are in the same buildings as them, and that their hours have not had ex-quota status since 2012. You can call it what you like. It is good that it is funded and there is a whole-school approach. That is very lovely as well but, as a former secondary school teacher, I know the whole-school approach is for everything and a maths teacher is not the one to deal with a mental health crisis in a young person. Neither is a principal or vice-principal. The only people qualified and with the professional skills to deal with mental health crises in young people are guidance counsellors. That is why I reiterate the motion, which very simply states the ex-quota status of guidance counsellors should be restored. They will help enhance this whole-school approach, which is most welcome, but guidance counsellors and their availability to students are needed. That cannot be underestimated.

That is also why the second part of the motion requests a reduction in the ratio of full-time guidance counsellors. We do not need to reinvent the wheel, and come up with loads more reports, other ideas and other ways of doing things. At the end of the day, guidance counsellors are the ones who are qualified and who are trained professionals in counselling skills. They are the ones who have the qualifications to refer students to further supports. We all know that supports are lacking at present. It is not the fault of the current Government, in some ways. We have only been in place for three years and have had two years of the Covid pandemic and all that, which has enhanced the issue. I am not here to defend the Government; I am here to say that young people are not in the room. They do not get to speak in the House but I do. We need to take this motion very seriously. We need to see action on it in this budget or the next because prevention is better and much cheaper than cure for a problem. We owe it to the young people of Ireland. Everybody has post-Covid issues, including adults, not to mention what it is like for adolescents.

I thank the Minister of State for his time. I welcome the whole-school idea and all that, but I have seen it before. We cannot expect schools to sort out all the problems all the time but guidance counsellors are on the front line and they need our support.