237. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Education what drug awareness programmes are run in primary and secondary schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

Norma Foley, Minister for Education: My Department works together with the Department of Health and other agencies to support students in the area of health. The aim is to equip students with the skills and knowledge to enable them to make the right choices for healthy lifestyles throughout their lives. Schools have a role to play in supporting their students to develop the key skills and knowledge to enable them to make informed choices when faced with a range of difficult issues. This is mainly done through the Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE) programme.

The importance of making healthy choices is one that is reflected in curricular developments, in particular the new Junior Cycle SPHE specification. That was published on 16 May, and has been introduced for first years in all schools from September this year.

The Learning Outcomes include that students should be able to discuss societal, cultural and economic influences affecting young people when it comes to making healthy choices about smoking, alcohol and other addictive substances, to discuss the physical, social, emotional and legal consequences of using addictive substances (both immediate and long-term), and to consider scenarios where, for example, alcohol, nicotine, drugs, food and electronic devices might be used to cope with unpleasant feelings or stress, and discuss possible healthy ways of coping.

It can be noted that work is ongoing to update the SPHE specification for Senior Cycle and a draft specification was published for consultation in July this year, with the consultation running until 3rd November last.

The Know the Score programme is a substance misuse programme published in 2019 for Transition Year or 5th year pupils. It was jointly developed by the HSE, my Department and the Drugs and Alcohol Task Forces. It is the first national evidence-based resource on alcohol and drugs for Senior Cycle students. The overall aim of the resource is to enable young people to make conscious and informed decisions about alcohol and drugs. I am pleased to say that an evaluation of the programme is being undertaken by the HSE, and Trinity College Dublin, will inform the further development of strategies for effective implementation and scale-up of school based prevention programmes and resources.