Vol. 553 No. 6
210 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Science the current deployment of teaching staff in respect of psychological services at various primary or post primary schools throughout County Kildare; the current extra staff requirement in this regard; the likelihood of meeting such demands in the near future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14996/02]
The present position in County Kildare is that all post-primary schools and 29 primary schools have access to the service provided by the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS. However, the service to a number of post-primary schools has been curtailed sadly during the past school year due to the death of the assigned psychologist.
An additional 26 primary schools are included in a pilot introductory programme and the NEPS service will be extended to them in the next school year, as new psychologists are recruited. These schools were also eligible to avail of the scheme for commissioning psychological assessments, as were the remaining primary schools in the county.
My Department is making every effort to accelerate the expansion of NEPS and I envisage that it should have reached its target of 200 psychologists within the next school year. At that stage, all schools in the county will have access to the NEPS service.
