Press release
Minister Foley extends in-school counselling pilot to 61 urban DEIS primary schools
Published on
Last updated on
Published on
Last updated on
Minister for Education Norma Foley TD was today delighted to announce 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 that will now be included in the pilot have been identified by the Department of Education as supporting children from areas with some of the highest levels of disadvantage in the State.
Minister Foley said:
“The Department of Education plays an important role in supporting the wellbeing and mental health of our children. I am glad today to be able to extend the provision of one-to-one counselling support to 61 additional urban DEIS schools. Research on addressing the impact of educational disadvantage, including the OECD Review of Resourcing Schools to Address Educational Disadvantage in Ireland, have highlighted the negative impact of social deprivation on wellbeing and educational outcomes.
“I have also heard first-hand from principals of the need to ensure that children that are experiencing mental health and wellbeing challenges have access to support so that they are able to learn and enjoy school.
“I am glad today to be able to respond to that need.
“The OECD report recommends enhancing the capacity of the schools serving the most disadvantaged communities. The extension of the Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot to these schools is an incremental measure to provide the resources for schools in these areas to support the needs of children.”
This extension will provide access to the Counselling in Primary Schools pilot to 56 DEIS Urban Band 1 schools and 5 DEIS Urban Band 2 schools in two clusters:
1. Dublin Southwest
2. North Dublin City
The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) on behalf of the Department will establish panels of pre-approved private counsellors to provide in-person one-to-one counselling to support the primary schools in these clusters. Details of how to apply to be included in the panels are available at this link .
On 31 May 2023 Minister Foley announced a landmark programme of counselling supports to be piloted in all primary schools in counties Cavan, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo, Monaghan, and Tipperary (Strand 1). This will now be extended from today to 61 schools in Dublin Southwest and North Dublin City.
Each school in the pilot is given access to counselling supports, as determined by the Department of Education.
Participating schools will be allocated blocks of up to eight counselling sessions per child for a small number of children in the school. Sessions are book-ended by a pre and post-session meeting with parents/legal guardians and relevant school staff (in addition to the six sessions for the child).
Participating schools are advised centrally of their specific allocation. Schools are responsible for commissioning counsellors from the panel to provide the counselling under the CPSP. Schools agree with the counsellors dates and times of the sessions, subject to their allocation. The counselling is provided by the counsellor in-person, in the school during school hours.
The counselling service provided under the pilot programme is not a substitute for services provided by HSE Primary Care Psychology and/or CAMHS, nor does it replace the role of the NEPS psychologist within a school. The pilot programme is an interim measure intended to supplement these services.
NEPS psychologists support participating schools in identifying the pupils who will access the counselling service (subject to parental/legal guardian consent). If a participating school is awaiting the assignment of a NEPS psychologist, or if the assigned NEPS psychologist is on leave, NEPS will make a psychologist available for this purpose as required.
The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) on behalf of the Department establish panels of pre-approved private counsellors to provide in-person one-to-one counselling to support schools in the pilot.
NEPS is seeking applications from accredited members of the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI); the Irish Association for Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy (IAHIP); one of the ten accrediting psychotherapy bodies within the Irish Council for Psychotherapy (ICP); the Irish Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP); the Irish Association of Psychotherapy and Play Therapy (IAPTP); the Association of Child Art Psychotherapists (ACAP). Applications for counsellors are being accepted on an ongoing basis throughout the school year for participation in the Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot.
Email: CounsellingPilot@education.gov.ie for all queries.
In July 2023, Minister Foley announced that the OECD Education for Inclusive Societies project had been invited to conduct a review of Ireland’s resource allocation approach to address educational disadvantage at school level to inform future policy in this area.
The review, published in July 2024, found that while Ireland has a comparatively equitable education system and that the DEIS programme contributes strongly to that, gaps in outcomes remain for those children and young people experiencing the highest levels of disadvantage. The review notes the need to support the wellbeing of children and young people in schools in areas with the highest levels of disadvantage. It recommends enhancing the capacity of these schools to support the needs of children and young people experiencing disadvantage. The review findings and recommendations will inform future policy development of the DEIS resource allocation model and school resourcing policies aimed at addressing educational disadvantage in all schools. The report is available on here .