Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 17 Nov 1998

Vol. 496 No. 6

Written Answers - Psychological Service.

Charles Flanagan

Question:

298 Mr. Flanagan asked the Minister for Health and Children whether assessment of primary school pupils with special needs can be carried out by the health boards in view of the fact that it will be some time before appropriate psychological services are in place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23418/98]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Cowen)

Responsibility for the provision of routine educational psychological assessments for school children is a matter in the first instance for the Department of Education and Science. As the psychological services provided by the Department of Education and Science to primary schools are still in the development stage and are at present limited to a small number of schools, health boards currently provide some services for school children on behalf of the Department of Education and Science. The primary concern, however, of the health funded psychological services is to provide assessment and therapeutic treatment to children, adolescents and their families who present with a wide range of emotional, behavioural and psychological difficulties and developmental delay.

It will clearly take time for the National Educational Psychological Service, recently announced by the Minister for Education and Science, to build up an increased level of service provision to children of schoolgoing age. During this interim period the health-funded services will continue to work with the developing educational psychological services to ensure that the available resources are applied as effectively as possible Nevertheless, their first concern must remain, as outlined above, the provision of the therapeutic psychological assessment and treatment services.