Vol. 442 No. 5
208 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for Education the number of psychologists employed on a full time and part time basis by her Department; the number employed by vocational education committees; the total cost involved; and the total number of students being counselled by them.
The number of psychologists employed on a full-time basis by my Department is 29. There are no psychologists employed on a part-time basis by my Department at present. It is planned to employ ten additional psychologists this year in order to extend the service in primary schools.
The total number of students at both primary and post-primary levels, seen by psychologists employed by my Department, for individual psychological assessments, in the school year 1992-93, the latest for which data is available, was 1,711. These assessments involved an element of counselling of individual students. Ongoing counselling is not a feature of the service provided at the post-primary level by the psychological service of my Department. Such counselling would be provided by the school guidance teacher. At primary level group-counselling of pupils having particular problems is being developed by the psychologists, in collaboration with teachers, and 30 pupils participated in such counselling in 1992-93.
The total cost involved to my Department is approximately £1.5 million in 1994. There are five psychologists employed on a full-time basis by the City of Dublin Vocational Education Committee and County Dublin Vocational Education Committee and their combined gross salary is approximately £153,000.
