Calls for better funding for counselling services

Irish students in greater need of emotional care, prompting pressure on existing services

Ireland’s universities need more funding for counselling and emotional wellbeing services, as the country is witnessing  a “dramatic increase” in demand, according to university counsellors.

Speaking at a roundtable convened by the Irish parliamentary committee on higher education, Treasa Fox, head of student counselling at the Technological University of the Shannon, said there had been an explosion in requests for such services over recent years. Fox, who also chairs the Psychological Counsellors in Higher Education Ireland group, said this increase had gone hand-in-hand with “a consistent rise” in self-reported self-harm and suicidal intention among students.