Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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112. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department ensures the provision of counsellors and/or therapists for students in primary or secondary school that have experienced trauma; and if not, if there is a plan to provide for such a need. [30520/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is committed to supporting the emotional wellbeing of all children including those who may have experienced trauma.

In June 2023 I launched a €5 million pilot of counselling and wellbeing supports in primary schools in selected counties. This Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot is in addition to the range of mental health and wellbeing supports already being provided by my Department and the excellent work already happening in schools in relation to wellbeing promotion. These services and supports supplement the wellbeing and mental health supports and services provided by the HSE throughout the country for primary school aged children.

The Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot has two strands. Strand 1 sees direct counselling supports being provided to primary schools for the first time. My Department has set up county panels of pre-approved private counsellors providing one-to-one counselling in primary schools in counties Cavan, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo, Monaghan and Tipperary. In total, 733 blocks of counselling have been allocated to schools across the pilot counties, which provides an allocation to 733 children in these counties. To date, 36 counsellors have been recruited across the 7 pilot counties.

A dedicated webpage with information for parents, information for counsellors and information for schools is also available on

www.gov.ie/en/publication/61be8-counselling-in-primary-schools-pilot-cps-p-2023-2025/.

Strand 2 of the Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot involves the introduction of Education Wellbeing Teams to provide enhanced in-school supports to clusters of primary schools in Cork, Carlow, Dublin 7, and Dublin 16. 15 Education Wellbeing Practitioners have been recruited to the four cluster areas. They have undergone an intensive training programme provided by NEPS, and have been working with schools offering supports for pupils, parents, and school staff to support wellbeing and resilience at a whole school level.

Through this existing pilot programme and subsequent evaluation we are confident that we will gather valuable learning that will inform future policy and provision in this area.

I have also recently announced publication of a tender to procure services to further support wellbeing and mental health in post-primary schools. The focus will be to strengthen supports and resources available to Student Support Teams to enhance the wellbeing and mental health of young people in the school community, with supports developed for students, parents and school staff.

Post-primary schools currently have access to Guidance Counsellors. Counselling is a key part of the role of the Guidance Counsellor, offered on an individual or group basis. The Guidance Counsellor also identifies and supports the referral of students to external counselling agencies and professionals, as required. Each post-primary school currently receives an allocation in respect of guidance provision, calculated by reference to the approved enrolment.

NEPS has engaged in extensive national training of school staff in the area of trauma-informed practice and have developed a new eLearning course for school staff - ‘Introducing a Trauma Informed Approach: The Stress Factor - Getting the Balance Right’ which looks at the sources and impact of stress on children and young people including trauma and adverse experiences. It demonstrates how to create environments to reduce stress and focuses on developing skills that all children and young people need to better manage in school. Over 2,891 teachers have enrolled in this programme since March 2023.