USI’s annual Comhdháil took place at the end of March in Sligo. At this event, motions are debated and some are voted in as USI policy.
This year, a ‘Student Mental Health Funding Policy’ was voted in. This policy noted that campus counselling services play an important role in the lives of students, often without adequate resources. A policy based on international and national evidence, and in line with guidelines from the Psychological Counsellors in Higher Education Ireland, has been developed.
This policy calls for counselling services to be staffed at the international best practice ratio of 1 counsellor to every 1000-1500 students, as well as ring fencing multi-annual funding to allow services to plan for more than just the current year. Currently the ratio stands at approximately 1 counsellor for every 2240 students, and annual funding in the past number of years has been at €5 million.
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