Vol. 529 No. 3
161 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Science the extent to which child psychology services are available; if all schools now have adequate cover in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2874/01]
Following a Government decision of February 1999, the National Educational Psychological Service Agency formally came into being in September of that year. NEPS has been established initially on an administrative basis as a dedicated executive Agency of my Department. It has devolved responsibility for the delivery of an educational psychological service to all schools and other educational centres recognised by my Department.
The terms of the Government decision allow for the recruitment of approximately 25 psychologists per annum until the target figure of 200 psychologists is reached.
The current situation is that there are now 78 psychologists serving with NEPS. Until the beginning of this term, they provided an educational psychological service to all second-level schools and to approximately 725 primary schools, but a substantial expansion is now taking place. Of the 78 psychologists mentioned, 28 have been appointed since the beginning of September 2000, and it is hoped that up to 22 more psychologists will be appointed before the end of the current school year. Schools are now being assigned to the newly appointed psychologists.
In the interests of equity, it is proposed that each cohort of newly appointed psychologists will be shared among the regions on a pro rata basis until each region has reached its target staffing-quota. It is intended that the overall target of 200 psychologists providing a service to all schools will be reached by the end of the year 2003, at the latest.
Psychological services for children are also provided by the health boards and by voluntary bodies funded by them. It is part of the remit of NEPS to liaise closely with these bodies at both national and local level in order to ensure a coherent delivery of psychological services to all children.
