Written answers
Wednesday, 1 October 2025
Department of Education and Skills
Education Policy
Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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76. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if there is a standard protocol for schools to follow when a student presents with mental health concerns; the way in which her Department monitors compliance with these protocols; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52473/25]
Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for her question on mental health in our school.
At the outset, it is important to note that the provision of child and adolescent mental health services lies specifically within the remit of the Department of Health and the HSE. HSE Primary Care Psychology Services and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) provide a range of clinical supports to children and young people. Where a parent has significant concerns about their child’s mental health, they can request a referral for their child to the CAMHS through their GP. The GP may also be able to signpost to other relevant support services.
My department has built strong links with the Department of Health to explore ways to improve supports for children and young people more broadly, including around increasing awareness, promoting help-seeking behaviour, school staff training, and signposting the wide range of services available to children and young people.
My department has also been working closely with the Department of Health and the HSE to agree a protocol to facilitate referral pathways to local services, on foot of Recommendation 10 of the HSE’s mental health policy Sharing the Vision. This collaboration will assist in the creation of a Single Point of Access to mental health services for children and young people as per the HSE Child and Youth Mental Health Office Action Plan.
I would like to take this opportunity to further outline the work of my department in this area more broadly and the role of my department’s National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS). All schools have access to:
- a NEPS psychologist for general support and advice.
- support from a NEPS psychologist in the event of a Critical Incident.
- National and Regional Support and Development service for school staff, which is advertised through the Education Support Centres of Ireland and covers areas such as trauma informed practice, cluster group support for post-primary special education teachers and special class teachers, training for Student Support Teams and supporting reluctant school attendance/school avoidance behaviour.
- access to either a NEPS psychologist or a SCPA psychologist for individual pupil casework where a priority need is established. SCPA – the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments - is operated through the use of a panel of psychologists who must meet qualification criteria set by the Department. It is an interim measure intended to supplement the NEPS service and meet current urgent needs for psychological assessment of children and young people.
This framework encourages schools to:
- provide children and young people with opportunities to build core social and emotional skills and competencies,
- provide children and young people with opportunities to experience supportive relationships within the school setting and to learn through those relationships and,
- provide children and young people with opportunities to be part of a school environment and culture that feels both physically and psychologically safe, an environment in which children and young people feel a sense of belonging and connectedness, in which they feel their voice is heard, and they feel supported.
Separately, in 2023 my department allocated €5 million to establish the Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot, a pilot programme of counselling and mental Health supports for primary schools in 2023. In Budget 2025, the pilot received additional funding to further develop the programme. The Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot consists of two strands. Strand 1 is provides 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 created panels of pre-approved private counsellors to provide counselling supports under the pilot. In October 2024, the department announced the extension of Strand 1 of the Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot to 61 urban DEIS primary schools in Dublin North City and Dublin South-West in areas with some of the highest levels of disadvantage in the State.
The selection of children for counselling under the Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot takes into consideration the NEPS/Department of Education and Youth Continuum of Support. The Continuum of Support is the framework schools use to guide the identification of a given child’s needs, to plan interventions and review a child’s response to those interventions. This information is documented in a child’s Student Support File which contains their Student Support Plan. Using the Continuum of Support framework helps to ensure that those children with the greatest level of need have access to the greatest level of support.
In line with the Continuum of Support a child may be prioritised for counselling following a period of school-based intervention and support. Decision making for accessing counselling support will be guided by information in the child’s Student Support File and their most recent Student Support Plan, which documents supports, interventions and adaptations provided by the school over time. Concerns about a child's development and interventions/supports identified for a child will be flagged with the child's parents/guardians. Student Support Plans are reviewed on a regular basis to consider if the supports and interventions in place are meeting the needs of each child or young person. During a review meeting the school, in collaboration with parents/legal guardians, considers a child’s response to intervention to understand the persistence and significance of need in the context of supports provided. There can be exceptional circumstances when a child may need to be prioritised for counselling support in the first instance, for example, if a child has transferred from another school with evidence of need or significant information of the needs of a child is provided by parents/legal guardians. This is not an exhaustive list, and professional judgement is needed taking all relevant information into consideration.
School staff consult with their assigned NEPS psychologist where they consider access to the Counselling Service under the Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot an appropriate support as part of a child's Student Support Plan, in line with the Continuum of Support.
My department continues to review our overall approach to fostering good mental health and wellbeing in our schools so that children and young people are enabled to reach their potential.
Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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78. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the plans to introduce or expand peer support programmes or student-led mental health initiatives in schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52476/25]
Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The area of wellbeing and the promotion of positive mental health is a priority for the Department of Education and Youth. This includes promoting emotional wellbeing and resilience and positive coping skills, which support children and young people to manage the complexities of modern life.
The department’s approach to supporting wellbeing and mental health is set out in its Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice. This policy informs the Department’s extensive and ongoing work in the area of student wellbeing. The Department of Education is now undertaking a wide review to produce an updated Wellbeing Policy and implementation plan for its successor from 2026 onwards which is anticipated will be aligned to continued, adapted or new areas of focus with timelines and performance indicators.
A dedicated wellbeing portal has also been developed and is now available, bringing together all the wellbeing supports and resources that have been developed by the Department and the Department’s support services, which are available to view at: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-education/campaigns/wellbeing-in-education/
I would also like to draw your attention to some of the supports currently available in post-primary schools to support students including access to counselling which is a key part of the role of the Guidance Counsellor, offered on an individual or group basis as part of a developmental learning process, at moments of personal crisis but also at key transition points . Also at post primary a Student Support Team is a student-focused mechanism put in place by a school in order to co-ordinate the support available for students in the school and to facilitate links to the community and other non-school support services. Jigsaw, in partnership with the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS)/Department of Education & Youth, provides a comprehensive suite of mental health and wellbeing resources, training and programmes for post-primary schools through Neart. Neart supports schools to provide learning opportunities for students to promote mental health and wellbeing, as well as mental health webinars and eLearning courses for school staff, Student Support Teams and parents.
Children and young people have a right to have their voices heard and taken seriously in all matters that affect them. My department is committed to embedding a culture of participation of children and young people in policy development at a national level and at a school level.
A student participation unit was established in my department in April 2023 to help my department to make sure that the voices of children and young people inform policy development across the department.
A key focus of my department’s work in 2025 is, in consultation with children and young people, reviewing and updating the guidance to support the establishment of student councils in post-primary schools and to develop guidance for primary schools.
The department is also continuing to progress the Charter Bill through the Houses of the Oireachtas. The Bill has been passed by the Seanad and is currently awaiting progression to Committee Stage in the Dáil.
One of the key concepts of the Bill is the need for a school to consult with the school community on individual school plans, policies and activities. This approach will help ensure that the various views of staff, students and parents will be heard and responded to by schools on policies and issues. Further information on my department’s Student Participation Implementation Plan can be found at gov.ie/itstartswithyou.
Separately, 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 created panels of pre-approved private counsellors to provide counselling supports under the pilot. In October 2024, the 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.
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. Supports to schools includes the Wellbeing Ambassador programme. The Wellbeing Ambassador programme is a peer led programme in which pupils are trained, by a lead teacher and the Education Wellbeing Practitioner, to be positive role models and promoters of wellbeing in their school. The role of a Wellbeing Ambassador is modified to suit each school’s needs and can include looking out for peers during yard time, organising wellbeing initiatives, giving talks at assemblies and creating informative posters and leaflets. Two introductory sessions are provided by the Education Wellbeing Practitioner to teachers interested in rolling out the programme in their school. Following this the Education Wellbeing Practitioner can co-facilitate the five Wellbeing Ambassador training lessons alongside the lead teacher. Ongoing support is also provided by the Education Wellbeing Practitioner in facilitating the development of the Wellbeing Ambassador role in the school.
The provision of child and adolescent mental health services lies specifically within the remit of the Department of Health and the HSE. HSE Primary Care Psychology Services and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) provide a range of clinical support to children and young people with mental health needs. When a parent has significant concerns about their child’s mental health, they can request a referral to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services from their GP. The GP may also be able to signpost to other relevant support services.
My Department continues to review our overall approach to fostering good mental health and wellbeing in our schools so that children can be optimally supported to reach their potential.
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