Teenagers face tremendous pressures as they grow up, in the form of the traditional pressures we all faced adapting to adulthood and exams and the modern day pressure of social media. One of the resources children traditionally had at school was guidance counselling. Mental health issues, self-harm and suicide attempts have all increased in recent years. Guidance counselling was introduced in schools around 1966, a signal time in second level education in this country, and it was made a legal requirement in the Education Act 1998. Guidance counsellors provided appropriate guidance and support to students at second level and since that time the relationship has been mutually beneficial, meaningful and, above all, confidential.

The previous Government made a decision to cut and cull guidance counselling in the infamous budget of 2012. This was a wrong and poorly thought-out decision which led in practice to a reduction of some 51% in the amount of guidance available. What is worse, it hit disadvantaged students and disadvantaged schools even more. In the confidence and supply agreement that Fianna Fáil entered into with Fine Gael we put this as a priority and we wanted the restoration of guidance counselling on an ex-quota basis. We saw the deficit and felt that it needed to be addressed. I had a meeting with the Minister about this and my colleague, Deputy Dara Calleary, had a meeting with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Paschal Donohoe. My party leader also spoke to the Taoiseach about it because there has been a marked reluctance to deal with the issue, despite the fact that it was agreed between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in the confidence and supply agreement.

This week, the Department has issued a number of circulars relating to teaching posts, including provision relating to guidance counselling, but there is no provision for ex-quota guidance counselling. That has come as a shock to people in the profession but it has also come as a considerable shock to my party, in light of the high priority we have put on this and the number of communications we have had since we agreed this in the confidence and supply agreement. There is no attempt in the circulars to ring-fence guidance counselling and they simply reiterate the position of the 2012 circular that, "Schools should consider how best to align the resource allocation with the objectives of the guidance plan." There is no requirement for a guidance counsellor to be ex-quota. Can the Minister clarify these latest circulars? Will guidance counsellors be employed on an ex-quota basis or will schools be entitled to have an à la carte approach to guidance counselling, contrary to what was agreed in the confidence and supply agreement between these two parties?

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue, which goes to the very heart of making sure that resilience is built in the young people who come through our education system, in a world where there are increasing pressures on them. I assure the Deputy that I am absolutely committed to the agreement we have made to restore guidance counsellors. To date we have restored 400, with 300 this September and another 100 next September. The total restoration will amount to 600.

We are fully committed to that. Not only that, we are also rolling out a well-being programme at junior cycle and committing significant resources to make that a reality. We are increasing the service from the National Educational Psychological Service to support schools in the implementation of policies across the schools to ensure that they provide an environment where young people feel safe, respected, valued and their resilience is built. We have specifically required in our disadvantage plan that disadvantaged schools have proper guidance support provided. We are fully committed to that.

We are also committed to ensuring that the resource of guidance counselling will be ring-fenced within schools and that it will deliver to targets. We will be monitoring the performance of schools in ensuring that adequate support in guidance is provided in every school. I have had a number of meetings about well-being and can say that there is huge energy within the schools, not only to restore guidance, but to build much deeper relationships with groups in the wider community to ensure that the environment within schools is the best possible for supporting young people who are vulnerable to pressures that would not have been in place when I was at school. We are committed to this. In addition, this year, we are providing for open hours so that there would be access to guidance support at a given time every week in every school, so that people could bring issues to someone who is professionally in a position to assist them. This is an area in which I share the Deputy's commitment and we will roll out the service.

Unfortunately, as both the Minister and I know, the issue here is the provision of guidance counselling on an ex-quota basis. The Minister's circulars avoid that issue and say the contrary. We both know about the pressures from certain bodies within the educational sector which are opposed to the provision of guidance counselling on an ex-quota basis. They have got to the Department. There are some people who do not want guidance counselling to be provided on this basis in schools. They want to be able to use a resource for other subjects, which are important, but we have said that guidance counselling is a key issue and must be done ex-quota. The Minister's circulars allow schools to not ring-fence guidance and to provide the hours for other items if they do not value guidance in the same way that he purports to value it. They are required to provide guidance, but they are not required in those circulars to provide guidance counsellors on an ex-quota basis. They are free to use those hours to teach other subjects.

What the Minister has done is in breach of the letter and spirit in terms of what he has said in this House, what has been said in the budget and what is written down in the confidence and supply agreement. Can the Minister confirm that he will re-issue those circulars and include those two words "ex-quota"? They bring a different meaning to the issue of guidance counselling and will mean a much different service in practice for those children and students who need it.

I assure the Deputy that I am at one with him on the need to provide a protected resource, but it has to be within a whole-school policy. The whole school has to be committed to supporting well-being. We have to have measures that show that the school has the proper culture, the proper policies, that it builds relationships with the pupils that are robust, and that the curricular content is adequately delivered across a range of subjects in the well-being area. All of those things have to work together. I am committed to having a protected resource of guidance against which we will be judging progress and I will ensure that all the guidance given to schools ensures that this resource is protected and that it delivers within a coherent programme. I am committed to honouring the commitment that we made between the two parties to restore this vital service and to use it effectively within schools.