Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 July 2016
233. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department retains data on the number of private referrals made by schools to private psychologists, outside of the scheme for the commissioning of private psychological assessments, as operated by his Department, for the purposes of achieving a psychological assessment of the educational needs of students; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20628/16]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that my Department's National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides educational psychology service to all primary and post primary schools through an assigned NEPS psychologist and in some cases through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA). Under this scheme schools can have an assessment carried out by a member of the panel of private psychologists approved by NEPS, and NEPS will pay the psychologist the fees for this assessment directly. While details of individual pupil casework undertaken by NEPS staff and assessments delivered under the SCPA scheme are recorded centrally within NEPS I must inform the Deputy that NEPs does not maintain record of assessments commissioned from any other source.
