Chairman: We will meet with relevant academics from the NHS child and adolescent mental health service, CAMHS, and education authority, Dorset, United Kingdom; the Irish Universities Association, IUA; the Technological Higher Education Association, THEA and the Higher Education Colleges Association, HECA. On behalf of the committee, I welcome the following to the first session: Professor Paul Downes, professor of psychology and education and director of the Dublin City University, DCU, Educational Disadvantage Centre; Dr. Siobhán O'Reilly, postdoctoral researcher, DCU National Anti-Bullying Centre; and Ms Sarah Stockham, clinical lead of the Dorset mental health support team, Dorset healthcare university NHS trust.

The witnesses are here today to discuss mental health supports in schools and tertiary education. I will invite Mr. Downes to make a brief opening statement followed by Dr. O'Reilly and Ms Stockham. This will be followed by questions from members of the committee. Each member has a five-minute slot. As the witnesses are probably aware, the committee will publish the opening statements on its website following today's meeting....

...Chairman: I will finish with a question I would like one of our guests to answer briefly. One of the biggest challenges for us as a society, and it is a major challenge, is drugs and substance misuse. I do not think we take it seriously enough from every side, whether it be justice or education on the effects it can have on mental health and mental illness. Do the witnesses see that as an increasing challenge or have they heard about it from third level colleges?

Professor Barbara Dooley: Certainly the link between alcohol, drug use and mental health is pretty clear but which comes first is the more difficult matter to disaggregate. It is important that we are mindful that these two issues may go together. If we are working with young people or our students who are struggling, we must try to understand to what extent they are engaging in risky behaviours. Mental illnesses, for example anxiety or depression, present themselves as how the student is feeling but we must ask what triggers have led to that feeling. Those are the types of things we need to understand. Triggers may be alcohol, drug use or other environmental issues such as if students are struggling with relationships. The complexity of mental health is what makes this work difficult and is the reason there is no perfect solution. It is because of the complexity of the lives of young people and of how they are living. It is incumbent on us when they present to try to unpick some of those things and perhaps put the right supports in place at that time. Certainly from our work there is evidence to link those two things and they are pretty strongly linked. People who have dangerous levels of alcohol-related behaviour or whatever are more likely to report depression, anxiety and suicide attempts.

[Click here for the full debate on the Oireachtas website]