Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Seery Kearney for raising this important matter. This is a debate I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Foley. The particular area of well-being falls under her direct remit. This debate gives me an opportunity to update the House on the mental health supports for primary and post-primary schools provided by the Department of Education.

As always, Senator Seery Kearney is up to date on where things stand but I can certainly add a few elements. As the Senator said, this is something that the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, and the Government are absolutely committed to doing. That has been acknowledged by the Senator. In June 2023, after coming into government, the Minister launched a €5 million pilot scheme of counselling and well-being supports in primary schools in selected counties, complementing the excellent work that schools already undertake in the area of well-being. This was alongside other services provided by the State through the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, the HSE and CAMHS, which have already been referenced.

Counselling in primary schools has two strands. Strand 1 sees direct counselling supports being provided to primary schools for the first time. The Department of Education has set up county panels to pre-approve private counselling, which will allow for one-to-one counselling in primary schools in the counties of Cavan, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo, Monaghan and Tipperary. In total, 778 blocks of counselling have been allocated to schools in the pilot counties, which provide for an allocation to 778 children. To date, 36 counsellors have been recruited across the seven pilot counties.

Strand 2, which is an area that the Senator focused in on and which is also up and running, is the introduction of education well-being teams. In schools in Cork and Carlow, and in particular in Dublin 7, there is a focus on providing support to pupils, parents and schools, especially primary schools. Fifteen education practitioners have been recruited to the four cluster areas to carry out an extensive training programme provided by NEPS. As this is a pilot, it is not possible to include all schools. An evaluation is being commissioned to review both sides of the pilot. Through the pilot evaluation, the Department is confident that it will gather valuable learning that will inform future policy and provision in this area.

The Senator made specific reference to DEIS schools. It could be communicated directly to the Minister, Deputy Foley, that the pilot should have a specific focus on such areas. I spoke about this with the officials in the Department in advance of this debate. They are looking to get that pilot under way later in the year. Separately, to supplement support for post-primary schools, the Minister of Education has published a tender that relates solely to that area of education. The tender is for the purpose of procuring services that further support well-being and mental health in post-primary schools, and working with the Department to develop and deliver additional supports to complement existing systems and structures. The priority is to adequately support students, parents and school staff. The tender contract will be awarded soon and will commence by July 2024. That is the progress taking place in the post-primary area. Strands 1 and 2 are under way within primary education.

A dedicated well-being portal can be accessed via Wellbeing in Education on Gov.ie, bringing together the extensive well-being and mental health supports and resources that have been developed by the Department of Education and the Department’s support services. I note the point the Senator has raised. To recap, strands 1 and 2 are already under way for primary schools and there is a subsidiary tender going out for post-primary. A review of the pilot will take place this year. I note the points made and there are matters I will bring back to the Minister for Education. I look forward to the Senator's comments.