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.
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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.
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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.
![](https://mentalhealth.usi.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/NEW_LOGO-2.png)
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