July Education Programme: Statements
Dail Éireann — 2020-06-10
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Gary Gannon (SD), Dublin Central

With that additionality comes a great expectation that the Minister is placing on the teachers and SNAs who will be expected to deliver the programme. I want to talk further about the supports they might be offered. There was a lot about well-being in the Minister's opening contribution on this programme. What exactly does that look like in terms of the well-being programme in the schools? If teachers and SNAs are being asked to run the programme, are they equipped to support young people with such complex and diverse emotional needs?
We know SNAs and teachers do an incredible job but these are not normal times. Some students who come back in late August or September will need access to counselling as they will have experienced trauma, and we have all heard of some very difficult cases in the last while. When they return to the summer programme, will they seek that support from the teachers? Will counselling be available? I am particularly thinking of the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS. Will NEPS be available in the schools? Will it be able to triage the most difficult cases? It is not just a question of having guidelines from NEPS but of having NEPS on the ground to triage the most difficult cases.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2020-06-10/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:48:20+00:00
Sitting date: 2020-06-10