Vol. 565 No. 2
37 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Education and Science the changes which have been made in the operation of the NEPS scheme in areas where schools and parents have had to pay for private psychological reports and have subsequently had these reports rejected by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10184/03]
The question relates to the procedures whereby eligibility for additional resources is established by means of psychological, or other professional, assessment. My Department's circular letters 7/02 and 8/02 define stringent criteria for identifying each category of disability and quantify the level of resources to be allocated in respect of each.
When a school principal receives a professional report that indicates that a child may be eligible for additional resources, she or he makes application to the special education section, using forms SER 1 and SER 2. The school principal also signs a declaration stating, among other things, that the application is based on relevant assessment reports that are available for inspection by the Department. Before Christmas, a survey conducted by the Department's inspectorate indicated a significant number of anomalies in the applications for extra resources. My Department therefore decided to review the two most recent rounds of applications. In view of the confidential nature of professional reports on individual children, NEPS psychologists have been asked to conduct this review.
NEPS psychologists have checked the data supplied in all the available professional reports to see if they complied with the criteria in the circular letters. In a significant number of cases, they found that the data did not so comply and accordingly informed special education section of this. The reports supplied by psychologists in private practice have not been rejected by my Department. They are generally extremely helpful in providing guidelines for those who are working with the children assessed. The assessment findings are not in dispute but it has been found in a significant number of cases that recommendations had been made for the allocation of extra resources, although the assessment data did not conform to the specific criteria outlined in circular letters 7/02 and 8/02.
There has been no change to the operation of the NEPS scheme for commissioning psychological assessments nor to the criteria for eligibility outlined in circulars 7/02 and 8/02. It is the responsibility of psychologists in private practice to clarify in their reports to schools the eligibility for additional resources of the children assessed.
Question No. 38 answered with Question No. 35.
