Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

53. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to confirm that further investments will be made and strategies developed in the area of school counselling, particularly in the areas of prevention and early intervention; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50515/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Department of Education and Youth is committed to supporting the emotional wellbeing of our children. In 2023, the department established a €5 million pilot programme of Counselling and Mental Health supports for primary schools. In Budget 2025, the pilot received additional funding. The Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot consists of 2 strands.

Strand 1 is the provision of one-to-one counselling to support small numbers of children in schools in counties Cavan, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo, Monaghan and Tipperary. The Department of Education and Youth have created panels of pre-approved private counsellors to provide counselling under the pilot and there are currently 45 counsellors available to work in these areas. In the 2023/2024 school year, more than 2,800 counselling sessions took place and I am pleased to inform you that 371 children availed of counselling. In the 2024/2025 school year, more than 6,200 counselling sessions took place and at least 731 children have availed of counselling supports.

In October 2024, my department announced the extension of Strand 1 of the Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot to 61 urban DEIS primary schools. These schools, in Dublin North City and Dublin South-West, have been identified by the department as supporting children from areas with some of the highest levels of disadvantage in the State. In the 2024/2025 school year, over 400 counselling sessions have taken place and at least 56 children have availed of counselling provision in these areas.

Children are prioritised for counselling in line with the Department of Education and Youth’s Continuum of Support, following a period of school-based intervention with evidence that, following intervention, the child requires further support. NEPS psychologists work with schools to identify and support the prioritisation of those most in need of access to this counselling support. This is part of the current role of the NEPS psychologist when working with schools which includes identifying need for and signposting to appropriate services.

Strand 2 of the pilot is the establishment of Education Wellbeing Teams to support 78 schools in cluster areas in Cork, Carlow, Dublin 7 and Dublin 16. To date, 20 Education Wellbeing Practitioners have been recruited. The focus of the support provided is on strengthening whole-school preventative approaches. This includes the provision of psycho-educational support for parents and teachers and the provision of early intervention on an individual and group basis to children with mild to emerging need using low-level therapeutically informed approaches.

The pilot is currently being externally evaluated by the Centre for Effective Services. It is anticipated that an evaluation report will be completed by Q4 2025. Through this evaluation the department are confident that valuable learning will be gathered that will inform future policy and provision in this area.

In addition to the Counselling and Mental Health supports for primary schools, the Department of Education and Youth in partnership with Jigsaw have launched Neart, a national programme of mental health and wellbeing resources and training for post-primary schools. The programme complements the supports in schools such as the provision of guidance counselling and the work of NEPS, as well as other wellbeing programmes and initiatives including Student Support Team training. A full outline of all Neart supports and resources on offer for the 2025/26 academic year is available here: .

NEPS has also engaged in extensive national training of school staff in the area of trauma-informed practice and have developed an 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. NEPS psychologists are available to support schools implement trauma informed approaches in school following participation in the training. As a follow up to the eLearning, NEPS will deliver a new live training called Understanding Trauma- Using a Trauma Informed Approach in Schools.