18th December 2025
John Boyle, INTO General Secretary, and Anne Horan, INTO President, attended a meeting of the Joint Committee on Drugs Use at Leinster House today. The session examined the supports teachers require to effectively deliver youth drug education and prevention programmes in schools.
Addressing the committee, John Boyle reaffirmed that INTO members are strong proponents of evidence informed substance use prevention education. However, he stressed that schools cannot be expected to deliver high quality prevention and wellbeing programmes without adequate resources and access to appropriate external supports. Effective prevention requires clear national policy, sufficient staffing, sustained professional learning, and coordinated health and community services. It must also reflect the realities of teachers’ workload and the increasingly complex needs of pupils.
INTO called for the Walk Tall Programme to be revised without delay, so that teachers have access to a modern, well structured programme and materials that reflect current challenges facing children and young people.
Highlighting that schools are operating beyond capacity due to initiative overload, staffing shortages, overcrowded classrooms, and the ongoing failure of the Department of Education and Youth to provide comprehensive and consistent professional development, the General Secretary concluded that teachers cannot be expected to implement drug education and prevention programmes without the essential supports outlined in the union’s submission to the committee.
INTO President Anne Horan commented:
Drug education and prevention programmes cannot be implemented successfully by teachers unless vital community and therapeutic supports are delivered in tandem with teaching. The response should not be crisis driven or a reaction to a critical incident. Our teachers and pupils need the support of health and social care professionals if the battle against substance abuse is to be won.
INTO’s submission forms part of the union’s focused campaign to secure the training, resources, and specialist supports primary teachers need to ensure pupils receive the care, guidance, and attention they deserve.
Read INTO’s opening statement here.
Watch the recording of the meeting here.