Minister Butler announces €750,000 in funding for new initiative to fund Counselling Psychology Training Places
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
€750,000 in financial support will provide:
Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler, has announced details of a new initiative to support counselling psychology trainee places. The funding allocation of €750,000, from Budget 2023, will see financial support provided to students enrolled in the academic year 2023/2024 onwards.
The funding will be phased in, with new students enrolled from this year onwards receiving a total financial support package of €75,000 over the three years of their doctorate programme.
Minister Butler said:
"Counselling psychology is a critical intervention across a broad array of health care settings. In particular, counselling psychologists play a crucial role in the provision of mental health services, for both adults and children, across primary care and specialist mental health services and multi-disciplinary teams such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)."
The €750,000 funding will provide a range of financial supports over the three years of the doctorate programme:
Minister Butler added:
"This funding demonstrates the government’s commitment to strengthen access to psychology training and equates to funding supports of €75,000 over a student’s three years of studies. Second and third-year counselling psychology students will also have 60% of their fees paid, as well as receiving a sponsorship payment towards costs, such as transport and accommodation.
"This government remains committed to developing all aspects of mental health services nationally, and a central priority is to improve access to our services and to reduce waiting times. These funding supports will see trainee counselling psychologists and newly qualified counselling psychologists working in our mental health services, enabling improvements in the recruitment and retention challenges we face."
The Department of Health continues to work with the HSE to develop programmes for targeted workforce planning, with a focus on ensuring that training places are available and that graduates have opportunities to work in the HSE.