Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 1 Jul 1998

Vol. 493 No. 4

Adjournment Debate. - Psychological Service.

Mr. O'Shea

Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a gabháil leis an Aire as ucht go bhfuil sé anseo. Tá súil agam go mbeidh deascéal aige dom. In reply to a parliamentary question which I tabled to the Minister for Education and Science on Wednesday, June 24 last, asking him the reason the educational psychological service for primary schools was not extended to Waterford and the proposals, if any, he had to make adequate provision, he outlined how his Department, in collaboration with Mary Immaculate College of Education in Limerick, had recently recruited 15 psychologists to work in the primary sector.

He further stated that even after this increase in staffing, there remains a number of areas, including County Waterford, where it was not possible for his Department to provide a psychological service for primary schools. He said the 15 psychologists had been appointed on merit after an open competition during which all candidates were interviewed.

He then made an extraordinary statement which requires further clarification. He said "on this occasion however, none of the successful candidates was available to work in the Waterford area". Will the Minister answer the following questions? Were none of the successful candidates available to work in the Waterford area because the Minister so decided or because none of them was prepared to work there? To what extent were candidates allowed dictate where they should be located? Did any candidate or candidates apply who were willing to be located in Waterford? Is it correct that as far as recruitment was concerned, the tail wagged the dog on this occasion? How can the Minister justify a situation where only one part of the south eastern region, south Tipperary, has a primary school psychological service?

Before the 15 new appointments, the post primary schools psychological service was as follows: one psychologist based in Drogheda serving primary schools designated as disadvantaged in Dublin 15 and serving post-primary schools in part of one county and throughout another; 19 psychologists located in Dublin serving primary schools designated as disadvantaged in Dublin city as well as post primary schools in approximately 12 areas; seven psychologists based in Cork serving primary schools designated as disadvantaged in Cork city, primary schools in Tipperary and post primary schools in six areas; one psychologist based in Limerick serving schools designated as disadvantaged in Limerick city; two psychologists on special projects and two psychologists on career breaks.

The 15 additional psychologists were allocated as follows: one psychologist in the north west serving Sligo town and its environs; two in the west serving Galway city, County Galway and County Mayo; two in the mid-west serving parts of Counties Clare, Limerick and Tipperary; two in the south serving north Kerry and east Cork; one in the south east serving south Tipperary, based in Clonmel; one in the midlands serving County Offaly, based in Tullamore; four in the east serving west County Dublin, north Kildare, south County Dublin and south County Meath, based in Dublin; two in the north east serving Louth, north County Dublin, east County Meath, based in Dublin.

I am pleased for all the areas which now have a psychological service. However, the Minister stands accused of blatant discrimination against the constituency I represent. I demand fair play for primary education in Waterford city and county.

Mr. Martin

I do not accept the allegation that I engaged in blatant discrimination against any area. I accept the advice on this matter and we need to do more in the development of a national psychological service. Deputy O'Shea was in Government for four years and for some reason Waterford still did not merit the appointment of a psychologist. We hope to deal with that situation this year with the appointment of more psychologists. The entire area will not be covered so we have to do it on a gradual basis.

The Department first established a schools psychological service in the autumn of 1965. Its main function at that time was to organise and support the introduction of guidance in second level schools. All schools in this sector have a psychologist assigned to them. Psychological advice to pupils, parents and teachers is provided as time and resources allow.

With regard to primary schools, a pilot project to develop a psychological service in two areas began in September 1990. The designated areas were west Tallaght, Clondalkin and south Tipperary. The project involved the employment of four additional psychologists on temporary contracts. The aim of the project was to gain experience of the development and provision of such a service. This was necessary before an extension to primary schools in other areas could be considered. The project completed its pilot phase in September 1993, was evaluated and was put on a permanent basis in the two areas in early 1994.

A further ten psychologists were then appointed in 1995 to allow for the expansion of the psychological service in the primary sector. These psychologists were assigned, as a matter of priority, to primary schools serving disadvantaged areas in the cities of Dublin, Cork and Limerick. ln addition, primary schools in the original pilot project in west Tallaght, Clondalkin and south Tipperary continue to have access to the psychological service.

This means that from 1995, 402 primary schools were eligible to avail of the psychological service. While this reflected a gradual improvement on the previous situation, there still remained more than 350,000 pupils in almost 3,000 national schools who did not have access to a schools' psychological service. My Department's psychologists are involved in casework with individual pupils.

Because of the current urgent need in the primary sector, I decided last year to initiate, in collaboration with Mary Immaculate College of Education, Limerick, a development project for the psychological service. The college has recruited 15 educational psychologists on short-term contracts to meet some of the urgent needs in primary schools. Their recent appointment has led to a noticeable improvement in provision in the sector. However, it was always clear that there would still remain many schools and areas which would be disappointed in the short term in their wish for access to a schools' psychological service.

It was important, therefore, that objective and transparent criteria should be used for the selection of the schools. These criteria were recommended to me by officials of my Department and the chief inspector had a key role. A general consideration was that this development project should provide further useful information on what kind of psychological service might be needed in typical clusters of schools throughout the country and how the needs might most effectively be met. The evaluation report on the project will, therefore, inform the implementation phase of the national educational psychological service.

The selection of schools was to allow some access to the psychological service for each region, including as many counties as possible. Account was taken of the need for a quality service. What was felt to be a realistic number of schools per psychologist was, therefore, selected. In general, the psychologists were assigned areas based on centres of population. This was to allow for a focused, local, accessible service with effective links with community resources. Geographically compact areas were favoured as these allow for an efficient use of the psychologists' time.

It was considered desirable for each area to include some designated disadvantaged and some non-disadvantaged schools. This would allow for some of the disadvantaged children who are in schools not designated as such to have access to the psychological service for the first time. A rural-urban mix was also considered to be desirable as, apart from south Tipperary, children from rural communities had not previously had access to the schools' psychological service. I was anxious also for some Gaeltacht children to have access to the service. Selection of areas also had to take account of the availability of the psychologists who had been appointed to work in them.

Including the previously existing psychological service, something in the order of 725 primary schools, located in all eight regions and in 15 counties, now have access to help from 28 educational psychologists. I am aware that there are inevitably still several significant centres of population, including some with considerable numbers of disadvantaged pupils, which have not yet been assigned to one of my Department's psychologists. This is a product of years of neglect and cannot be dealt with overnight. Their needs will be borne in mind in future. It is not possible to meet the needs in all areas at the same time so a phased introduction of the service is necessary.

One of the key priorities of the programme for Government, An Action Plan for the Millennium, is the establishment of a national educational psychological service. I established a planning group last September to prepare proposals for this service. This is in recognition of the need to adopt a consistent and well planned approach to the provision of such a service to students and schools. The planning group is representative of agencies which currently provide psychological services as well as of the main client groups. I expect to receive the report of the planning group in the very near future. I understand its work is practically completed.

I am confident we can look forward to the continued development of an educational psychological service on a planned basis. The employment of the 15 additional psychologists this year is an interim measure to achieve an immediate expansion. However, it is my intention that there will be an educational psychological service available to all schools. This will be introduced in a phased way and I am sure the needs of schools in the Waterford area will not be overlooked in making this provision. I will take on board the Deputy's concerns.

The Dáil adjourned at 11.45 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 2 July 1998.