Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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153. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the breakdown of funding for drug and alcohol addiction services from all sources for each county in each of the past five years to date, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59723/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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My department does not provide a direct funding stream for drugs and alcohol addiction services. My Department does, however, fund higher education institutions (HEIs) to put supports in place for students who are suffering from mental health and well-being issues and some students may require these supports as a result of addiction issues.

I have recently announced a €3m increase in funding for mental health and well-being initiatives to bring funding to a total of €5m for this academic year. This funding targets the support of student mental health and well-being, with a specific focus on the provision of counselling services. The funding is also integral to the implementation of the National Student Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Frameworklaunched in 2020, Ireland’s first-ever national approach to address student mental health and suicide prevention.

Another recent development in this area is the Healthy Campus initiative. The HEA are responsible for coordinating and monitoring implementation of the Healthy Campus Framework and Charter among higher education institutions.

A National Coordinator, situated in the HEA, has been appointed to drive the roll-out of the Healthy Campus Framework and Charter and to support institutions in sharing learning and good practice. An advisory group that includes representation from the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, the Department of Health, the HSE, the HEA, as well as institutional and student representatives, has been established to oversee progress.

The Framework helps higher education Institutions across Ireland to embed health and well-being into campus life for staff and students and offers guidelines to institutions to build on existing well-being actions and assists with the integration of health and well-being into decisions surrounding teaching and learning, as well as identifying opportunities in the college environment, whether social or academic, that can help foster an ethos of care, compassion and inclusion on campuses.