Tony Gregory (Dublin Central, Independent)
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Question 511: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the policy and principles of lifelong guidance initiatives; the criteria for the appointment of teachers in guidance and counselling; the number of such teachers currently employed on a full-time basis in such schools; the criteria for the appointment of guidance and counselling personnel in Youthreach and other centres; the number of staff employed on a full-time basis; and the provisions for adult guidance and counselling throughout the country, including the number of adult guidance co-ordinators and counsellors working in same. [16490/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The policy principles underpinning all Department of Education and Science guidance initiatives are based on the EU Resolution on Guidance which was adopted by the Council of the European Union in May 2004 during the Irish Presidency. The Resolution links lifelong guidance to lifelong learning and stresses that, as appropriate and given local circumstances, all European citizens should have access to guidance services at all life stages, with particular attention being paid to individuals and groups at risk. The Resolution sees the central focus of guidance to be the development of the individual's self-management skills in relation to his or her learning and career paths, whether the individual is a young person or an adult. It calls for co-ordination in the provision of guidance services and co-operation between providers.

Guidance services are education and labour market based being located within educational institutions and local employment centres. Within educational settings, guidance services are based in post-primary schools, higher and further education institutions and through second chance education programmes. In the labour market sector, FÁS, the training and employment authority, is responsible for the provision of guidance services. Guidance services are offered through local employment centres which offer services to the unemployed/job seekers, persons with disabilities and asylum seekers around the country.

The Education Act 1998 requires each post-primary school to use its available resources to ensure that students have access to appropriate guidance to assist them in their educational and career choices. The Inspectorate of my Department has issued guidelines for post-primary schools to assist them in meeting this statutory obligation.

For appointment to a post in a post-primary school, a guidance counsellor must be qualified as a recognised post-primary teacher and in addition, must hold a post-graduate qualification in guidance and counselling which is recognised by my Department. For appointment to a post in the Further Education area a person would normally be expected to have a suitable degree or equivalent together with a qualification in the area of guidance and counselling recognised by my Department.

My Department makes a specific allocation of teaching posts in respect of guidance to schools in the post-primary system. This allocation is based on the pupil enrolment in September of the preceding school year. As a result of my decision to allocate an additional 100 posts to guidance from September 2005 an enhanced guidance allocation provision has been put in place from the commencement of the 2005/06 school year. This enhanced provision means that in the case of schools in the Free Education/Block Grant Schemes, the level of allocation ranges from 8 hours per week for schools with enrolments below 200 pupils to 47 hours per week for schools with an enrolment of 1,000 pupils or more. In addition, I recently approved a further improvement in the allocation of Guidance hours for post-primary schools participating in the DEIS programme — Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools. The allocation for these schools will range from 11 hours per week for schools with enrolments below 300 to 55 hours per week for schools with an enrolment of 1,000 pupils or more. There are currently a total of 653 whole-time equivalent posts for guidance counsellors in post-primary schools.

In the Further Education area, guidance, counselling and psychological services are provided in Youthreach, Traveller Training and FÁS centres. Counselling and psychological services are provided by counsellors engaged on a part-time basis. Some other aspects of the service are provided by staff within the centre, by mentors in the Youth service or by the FÁS Advocate service. On average, funds provided allow for a visiting service from which each centre receives support of the order of 5 hours per fortnight from practitioners with a psychology qualification and background. Vocational Education Committees (VECs) are responsible for the recruitment of practitioners to meet the needs of trainees in centres. Some 8,210 trainees are benefiting from the guidance, counselling and psychological service in Youthreach, Traveller Training and FÁS centres.

The Adult Educational Guidance Initiative consists of 35 Guidance projects throughout the country which provide a quality adult educational guidance service to participants in VTOS, literacy and other adult and community education programmes nationwide. The majority of the 35 Adult Guidance projects in operation throughout the country are managed by VECs. For 2006, a provision of €5,587,000 has been made to fund the Adult Educational Guidance Initiative. There are in the region of 40 co-ordinators and counsellors working in the Adult Education Guidance Initiative projects at present.