Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 30 September 2026
62. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Education and Youth in light of the finding of a report (details supplied), the steps her Department is taking to provide accessible and confidential early support that does not depend on a young person identifying themselves as being in crisis or actively requesting help; and if she will provide details of any planned expansion of preventative youth mental health provision. [69172/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra63. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether, in light of a report (details supplied), her Department will establish or expand a funding mechanism through which schools can access evidence-informed, preventative programmes that develop students' emotional literacy, critical reflection, belonging and confidence; and whether she will consider supporting the evaluation and wider roll-out of programmes specifically designed with teenage boys. [69171/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra64. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Education and Youth the gender-responsive measures that her Department is taking to support boys' emotional literacy and help-seeking, particularly in light of the finding of a report (details supplied). [69170/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra65. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Education and Youth in light of the finding of a report (details supplied), the measures her Department will take to reduce this pressure while strengthening students' confidence and coping skills; and whether these measures will include universal, preventative programmes in schools rather than opt-in supports. [69169/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra66. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Education and Youth the current timeline for the roll-out of school-based wellbeing and mental health supports across post-primary schools; her views on the finding in a report (details supplied); whether she will review the timing of evidence-based wellbeing supports to ensure students receive them from first year; and if she will provide details of any planned actions and associated timelines. [69168/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 62, 63, 64, 65 and 66 together.
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 CAHMS 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.
Within education the area of wellbeing and the promotion of positive mental health is a priority for the Department of Education and Youth and myself as Minister. 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 was first set out in the Department’s Wellbeing Policy Statement & Framework for Practice (2019-2025) and informs the department’s extensive and ongoing work in the area of student wellbeing. The departments approach is founded on research and best international practice of how schools can best support the wellbeing and mental health of children and young people. The approach proposed is a whole school and preventative approach which has multiple components that include:
- Providing children and young people with opportunities to build core social and emotional skills and competencies
- Providing children and young people with opportunities to experience supportive relationships within the school setting and to learn through those relationships
- Providing children and young people with opportunities to be part of a school environment and culture that feels both physically and psychologically safe
- Schools are encouraged to develop policies that create 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.
- Schools are encouraged to use a reflective, school self-evaluation approach to identify and prioritise the needs of its own school community in relation to the promotion of wellbeing and mental health, and to respond to meeting those needs.
Policy implementation responsibility is coordinated by the Wellbeing Office which is situated within the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS).
The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides educational psychological support to all primary and post-primary and special schools. The NEPS service provides access for all schools to:
• Psychological support in the event of a Critical Incident
• A Casework Service for individual children where there is a need for intensive consultation and assessment via a NEPS psychologist or through the Scheme for the Commissioning of Psychological Assessments (SCPA).
• A school staff Support and Development Service, to build school capability to provide a comprehensive continuum of support in schools and
• Ongoing access to advice and support for schools.
NEPS’ support and development work includes training for school staff on the promotion of wellbeing and resilience in schools, e.g. national webinars such as Understanding Anxiety, Supporting School Attendance, Trauma Informed Practice and eLearning on trauma informed practice. This includes upskilling school staff on the use and implementation of evidence-informed approaches in schools, and approaches based on the principles of cognitive behaviour therapy and attachment-aware practices.
A dedicated wellbeing portal can be accessed via www.gov.ie/en/department-of-education/campaigns/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.
NEPS has recently launched a Padlet which serves as a central hub for all schools to access the NEPS Support & Development Service NEPS Padlet.
Two landmark initiatives were introduced into selected primary schools in 2023.
The Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot saw the introduction for the very first time of one-to-one counselling supports for children presenting with mild to moderate mental health needs in primary schools in counties Cavan, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo, Monaghan and Tipperary. This was extended in October 2024, to 61 urban DEIS primary schools in Dublin Southwest and Dublin North. These schools have been identified by the Department of Education and Youth as supporting children from areas with some of the highest levels of disadvantage in the State. The DEIS Plus Scheme announced in March 2026 proposes an extension of the Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot to an additional 102 primary schools.
The second landmark initiative, Education Wellbeing Practitioners in Schools Pilot, introduced of a new type of support, 20 Education Wellbeing Practitioners (EWPs) into 77 schools in cluster areas in Cork, Carlow, Dublin 7 and Dublin 16. The supports being offered are to pupils, parents, and school staff to support the wellbeing and resilience of the school community.
The DEIS Plus Scheme sees the extension of the Education Wellbeing Practitioners in Schools pilot into a further 129 schools (102 primary and 27 post primary). In June 2026 a new recruitment campaign was launched to further expand the number of Education Wellbeing Practitioners under the DEIS Plus Scheme. The recruitment campaign was very successful and new Education Wellbeing Practitioners have started with my department and are currently undergoing intensive training with NEPS.
The Evaluation of the Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot completed by the Centre for Effective Services and launched by the Minister in August 2026 highlighted:
• The significant positive contribution that the one-to-one counselling service and the Education Wellbeing Practitioner (EWP) model have made in supporting the wellbeing of children, families and school communities
• That supports were highly valued by pupils, parents, school leaders and staff
• The pilots delivered meaningful benefits, including improvements in emotional regulation, resilience, communication skills and coping strategies
• That the Education Wellbeing Practitioner model demonstrated broader reach, lower costs per pupil, stronger workforce sustainability and benefits across the wider school community.
NEPS has published guidance for post primary schools on establishing a Student Support Team (SST) or reviewing an existing team. Psychologists are currently facilitating post-primary schools to improve the Student Support Team process which is the structure through which key wellbeing and wellbeing-related policies are implemented in post-primary schools. 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 NEPS 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. Over 3,100 school staff are now registered with Neart (representing approx. 90% of post primary schools).
Neart has delivered a suite of live webinars and eLearning courses for school staff, live masterclasses for student support teams (SSTs), eLearning train the trainer courses for teacher-led classroom-based workshops for students, and live webinars and a new podcast series for parents / guardians.
The Neart Wellbeing Award was launched in September 2025, to acknowledge the commitment of participating schools to mental health and wellbeing. Schools that sign up to participate in Neart, and meet the criteria required, will receive the Neart Wellbeing Award to display on their digital and print materials. The Neart Wellbeing Award is endorsed by NAPD.
Neart webinars/masterclasses for school staff include
• Embracing Diversity: Supporting Minoritised Students and Building Belonging in Schools
• Maximising student voice for mental health and wellbeing in schools
• Social media and student mental health: Strategies for supporting students to have healthy relationships with social media (facilitated by Web Wise)
• Supporting the Wellbeing Needs of Neurodivergent Students?
• Self-compassion as a strategy for self-care for school staff (facilitated by Spectrum Life)
Guidance counsellors are available in schools and can provide support to students. Guidance counselling is a key part of the school guidance programme, offered on an individual or group basis as part of a developmental learning process, at moments of personal crisis and at key transition points, such as transitioning to further education or employment. Guidance counsellors may work with students on a wide range of developmental issues that some students find difficult to manage.
Guidance counsellors are different to counsellors. Guidance counsellors are not mental health practitioners and recognise the limits of their knowledge, skills and competence. Guidance counsellors refer individuals (and their parents/guardians as appropriate) to other specialised services, as appropriate. Guidance counsellors are required to stay within their professional competence and boundaries.
Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) is a mandatory part of the Primary and Junior Cycle curriculum, which provide vital opportunities for the development of children’s wellbeing in the physical, social, emotional and intellectual domains. An updated Junior Cycle SPHE specification was published by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) in May 2023 and was rolled out for first years in all schools from September 2023. An updated Senior Cycle specification was approved and published in September 2024. Schools have until September 2027 to introduce the specification for students entering fifth year of the Leaving Certificate Established programme, to accommodate the necessary planning and preparatory work.
The updated specifications, available on www.curriculumonline.ie , provide clear direction on the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that all students should gain during their progression through the SPHE learning outcomes. The phased enactment of the new Primary Wellbeing curriculum area, including SPHE, commenced in the 2026/27 school year. Wellbeing is required to be one of the first three curriculum areas selected by schools for enactment.
Schools can choose programmes and resources which meet the specific needs of their own context in terms of promoting wellbeing but due to the extensive number of supports already available to our schools there is currently no plan to provide funding to individual programmes. Therefore, it is a matter for the management of each school to decide on the appropriateness of seeking external facilitators in promoting wellbeing and we continue to advise schools to refer to Circulars 0042/2018 and 0043/2018 if considering collaboration with external agencies.
The Department has now initiated a Wellbeing Policy Review and a broad stakeholder engagement process to consult on a successor to the current Wellbeing Policy which is expected be launched in 2027. The organisation referred to in details supplied has participated in a targeted focus group as part of this review.
