Vol. 536 No. 3
232 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Education and Science the measures he has put in place to make sure a sufficient number of educational psychologists will be available nationally, regionally and in the various county areas to meet the National Education Psychology Service targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14148/01]
The new NEPS agency came into existence on 1 September 1999 with the 42 psychologists already employed in the service. The recruitment of additional psychologists involved the organisation of a competition through the Civil Service and Local Appointments Commission. Notwithstanding the time consuming nature of such competitions there are now 82 psychologists in NEPS and by the end of this school year there will be 100 psychologists in the service. I also intend to proceed with the recruitment of a further 28 psychologists before the end of this calendar year. This will raise the staffing to 128 and greatly improve the service.
Annual targets have been set, county by county, to ensure that expansion takes place simultaneously in all regions. The management committee of NEPS is monitoring carefully the general availability of trained educational psychologists and the rate at which targets are being met in different counties.
