Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 January 2017
361. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of complaints received by the National Educational Psychological Service from either schools or parents between January 2009 and December 2013, regarding the scheme for commissioning of psychological assessment, SCPA, psychologists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41263/16]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware 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), full details of which are on the Department's website. 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.
I can inform the Deputy that no formal complaints were received under my Department's complaints procedure in the period January 2009 to December 2013 in respect of the operation of the SCPA scheme.
By way of information NEPS maintains the SCPA panel of private practitioners on an ongoing basis and provide guidelines to both panel psychologists and school authorities as to their respective roles and responsibilities in delivering and availing of the SCPA service. School authorities commission assessments under the scheme directly from the SCPA panel and when completed both the psychologist and the school Principal submit a form to NEPS individually attesting that the terms of delivery of the assessment accords to the NEPS guidelines, thus allowing NEPS to pay the panellist.
The form also includes a facility for the school to include observations or suggestions in relation to the particular assessment at hand or the overall process. The NEPS SCPA Committee may respond to this feedback and seek to resolve issues raised by direct contact with the school and or the SCPA psychologist. The feedback, both positive and negative, is used by the NEPS staff managing the process to inform individual or scheme performance and practice.
