Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 February 2026
575. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on the pilot scheme (details supplied) if she plans to introduce the scheme permanently; if her attention has been drawn to the good work it is doing on the ground and the positive feedback being received on same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9782/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department of Education and Youth is committed to supporting the emotional well-being of our children and young people. In June 2023, the Department of Education and Youth launched a €5 million landmark pilot of counselling and wellbeing supports in primary schools in selected counties.
The Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot has two strands and works to support children’s wellbeing and mental health in schools. Strand 1 sees direct counselling supports being provided to primary schools for the first time.
The 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. There are currently 43 counsellors working in schools across the seven pilot counties.
In the 2024/2025 school year, more than 6,200 counselling sessions took place and at least 752 children availed of counselling. To date, in the 2025/2026 school year, more than 1,900 counselling sessions took place and at least 234 children have availed of counselling supports.
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 Tallaght, Clondalkin, Finglas, Ballymun and Darndale. The schools included in the pilot were identified by the Department of Education and Youth as supporting children from areas with some of the highest levels of disadvantage in the State. There are currently 10 counsellors on the panel for these areas and to date, at least 151 children have availed of counselling.
Strand 2 is the introduction of Education Wellbeing Teams to provide enhanced in-school supports to a cluster of 77 primary schools in Cork, Carlow, Dublin 7 and Dublin 16. The Education Wellbeing Practitioner is a new type of practitioner introduced as part of this pilot to provide enhanced in-school support. The practitioners are graduates of psychology, education and social science and undergo an in-depth training programme provided by NEPS. The focus of the support provided under Strand 2 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 to children with mild/emerging need, using low-level therapeutically-informed approaches. To date, 20 Education Wellbeing Practitioners have been recruited to the four cluster areas.
The Department introduced a Strand 2 Wellbeing Grant of €2,000 per school, for the 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 school year, to promote and support wellbeing focused initiatives in Strand 2 pilot schools. The NEPS Education Wellbeing Teams are available to provide information and support to the schools in identifying wellbeing supporting resources and initiatives.
The Centre for Effective Services have been commissioned to evaluate both strands of the pilot. Through this evaluation we are confident that we will gather valuable learning that will inform future policy and provision in this area.
