Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 February 2004
291 Mr. O'Dowd asked the Minister for Education and Science the primary schools in County Louth that are served by the national educational psychological service; if there are unfilled vacancies for NEPS psychologists in County Louth; and the waiting list in Louth for psychological assessments for schools that are served by NEPS and non NEPS schools. [4681/04]
View answerOf the 73 primary schools in County Louth, 37 currently have a service from the national educational psychological service, NEPS. All the schools that do not yet have a service (36) may avail of the scheme for commissioning psychological assessments, SCPA. Details of this scheme have been circulated to all schools and are also available on my Department's website.
Under the Draft Development Plan for NEPS, which was presented to my predecessor in April 2000, it was envisaged that the final total of NEPS psychologists in the north-east region, of which County Louth forms part, would be 17. At present, 11 of these are in post, with one on maternity leave and one on a career break. Four of the psychologists are currently in post work in the Louth area. It is hoped to make another appointment to the region before the end of the current school year.
Expansion to some further schools will be possible on the return of a psychologist from career break later in the year. Expansion of the service to all schools must await further recruitment.
NEPS psychologists do not keep waiting lists of children requiring assessment in the sense of lists of names that are dealt with in chronological order. Each psychologist is responsible for a number of named schools, and visits each on a regular basis. The school authorities provide names of children who are giving cause for concern and discuss the relative urgency of each case during the psychologist's visits. This allows the psychologists to give early attention to urgent cases and such children will be seen or referred on in a matter of weeks, if not days. Where cases are less urgent, the psychologist will, as a preliminary measure, act as a consultant to teachers and parents, offer advice about educational and behavioural plans and monitor progress.
Schools that do not yet have access to the NEPS service commission psychological assessments directly from a panel of psychologists under the terms of the SCPA. My Department does not therefore have information as to the normal waiting time for assessment under this scheme.
