Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 June 2026
303. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of schools that have undertaken courses in trauma informed training, organised by NEPS, during the 2025-2026 school year; and if she will consider making it compulsory. [46871/26]
View answerMy department is committed to supporting the emotional wellbeing of all children including those who may have experienced trauma.
The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) has engaged in extensive training of school staff in the area of trauma-informed practice. The following trainings have been delivered over the course of the academic year 2025-2026:
eLearning course: ‘Introducing a Trauma Informed Approach: The Stress Factor - Getting the Balance Right’ is an online self-paced course 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. The eLearning course is available to primary, post primary and special school staff and more than 1100 members of school staff completed this eLearning course during the academic year 2025-2026.
Taster Session: An introductory session for the eLearning course 'Introducing a Trauma Informed Approach: The Stress Factor - Getting the Balance Right' is a 1-hour live webinar delivered by NEPS psychologists to primary, post primary and special school staff. This training is a 'taster' information session for the online eLearning course. It was delivered on 4 occasions during the academic year 2025-2026 and attended by 745 school staff members.
Follow-Up Webinar: As a follow up to the eLearning course, NEPS deliver a live online webinar called Understanding Trauma- Using a Trauma Informed Approach in Schools. This webinar builds on the learnings from e-Learning course by: further exploring the relationship between stress and trauma; looking at some contributary factors to trauma; Looking at how neuroscience theory and research has informed understanding of the impact of trauma; guiding schools to establish a trauma informed approach, providing practical school-based trauma-informed approaches to promote safety and connection in schools. The webinar was delivered on 11 occasions to school staff in primary, post primary and special schools during the academic year 2025-2026 and evaluated by 284 school staff members.
All of the trainings are provided as part of the NEPS service with no cost to schools. A new standalone Trauma Informed Practice resource for schools will also be available in the autumn for schools to use.
A dedicated wellbeing portal can be accessed via ‘Wellbeing in Education’ on Gov.ie, bringing together all the wellbeing and mental health supports and resources that have been developed by the Department and the Department’s support services.
