789. Deputy John Connolly asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if his Department funds drug addiction prevention initiatives in further and higher education institutes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [73685/25]

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: The mental health and wellbeing of students is a priority for my Department, especially in light of the increased stress and anxiety levels students are experiencing in Third Level Education. My Department has progressed a number of initiatives, in partnership with the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), over the last few years to address the broad spectrum of mental health and wellbeing issues faced by students.As autonomous bodies, the internal disbursement of this funding, including the funding of their student services, the employment of counselling staff, and the procurement of counselling and mental health services are a matter for the individual institutions.

As part of its broader sectoral objective of supporting students on their journey to success, in and through higher education, my Department has provided €31.9 million in additional funding through the HEA to HEIs since 2020. This funding is to further support HEIs in meeting the mental health and wellbeing needs of their student population and in implementing the National Student Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Framework and the Healthy Campus Charter and Framework. The additional funding was also used to augment coordination of capacity building on a national level through a number of National Projects.The HEA National Student Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Framework has been providing guidance to institutions on supporting student mental health and suicide prevention since 2020. It includes nine themes including actions that relate to drug and alcohol use.

Specifically, under the theme, ‘Lead’ institutions are asked to ‘audit the campus environment with a view to restricting access to lethal means’, other actions relate to students in higher risks groups which can include those with a history of drug or alcohol misuse and addressing risky behaviours. Based on the findings of a review report of the Framework published in July 2025, the HEA, in consultation with the HEA Student and Staff Health and Wellbeing Advisory Group, will oversee the revision of this Framework.The HEA Healthy Campus Charter and Framework is a framework through which institutions can address locally identified student needs and national health priorities using a whole campus approach.

Several national policies and strategies have been developed to support Ireland’s health and wellbeing in the keys areas of physical activity, obesity, tobacco, sexual health, mental health and drugs and alcohol. The HEA Healthy Campus Self-Evaluation Tool was developed to support institutions to self-assess their work in relation to student and staff health and wellbeing. It works across five pillars which are aligned to the Healthy Campus whole campus approach, an additional pillar ‘Health focus areas’ includes health topics such as alcohol use, illicit drug use and tobacco use and vaping. In each of these sections, HEIs can self-assess their work in relation to these topics, for example asking if they provide information, have policies, provide services, participate in national campaigns, or include information in any wellbeing curriculum. These self-assessed benchmarks support institutions to consider how they can improve their work in relation to drug use education, awareness and addiction prevention.

Some of the HEI Drug and Alcohol Use Initiatives and Programmes include: • UCC - Enabling Students and Higher Education Institution to Lead the Response on Drugs (E-SHEILD) Project

• University of Limerick - ‘#DrugDrivingAware A regional collaborative third level initiative: Developed by students for students’

• MTU - ‘A Healthy MTU’: An Investigation into the Dietary Behaviours and Alcohol Consumption Patterns of First Year Undergraduate Students During the Transition to Higher Education’

• Trinity College Dublin - Addiction Recovery and Wellbeing Group

Each Education and Training Board (ETB) has an overarching drug use policy, which individual FET centres adapt to meet their specific needs, supported by detailed procedures. Many centres partner with local drug task forces and other specialist agencies to deliver workshops and counselling. Youthreach Centres, for example, facilitate access to a range of supports for their learners, including personal counselling and drugs awareness initiatives.

SOLAS’ Reach and ALL Collaboration and Innovation Funds, provide significant funding to the Further Education and Training sector (FET) for a wide range of programmes that aim to raise awareness and reduce harm for individuals, families, and communities, including young people. Since 2020, over €2.5 million has been allocated for Community Education projects to provide targeted projects for people impacted by addiction, with many of these projects focusing on drug education and preventative education.Addiction studies courses are available across FET, from Level 5 modules in community development to programmes delivered in prison education units.