Ceist:
15 Mr. Hayes asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of children for whom psychological assessments will be provided during the coming school year at primary and secondary levels. [20021/99]
Written Answers. - Psychological Service.
I assume the Deputy is referring to the numbers of children in schools for whom psychological assessments will be provided by psychol ogists employed by the new National Educational Psychological Service Agency which formally commenced the provision of its service on 1 September 1999. Some psychological assessments are carried out by health board personnel or privately. Information on these latter assessments is not available to my Department.
The number of students in schools for whom psychological assessments will be provided during the coming school year will be related to the varying needs arising in schools in areas served by the new NEPS agency and related to the availability of psychologists for the agency. More schools will be receiving an educational psychological service as additional psychologists are recruited by NEPS in 1999 and in the year 2000. It is not possible, therefore, to accurately predict, at this stage, the exact number of students for whom psychological assessments will be provided in 1999-2000.
However the number of psychological assessments provided by my Department's psychologists during the past school year may provide an indication of the numbers of such assessments likely to be provided in 1999-2000. In primary schools, 2,111 students were interviewed by Department psychologists, of whom 1,714 had individual psychological assessments. In second level schools, 1,316 students were interviewed by psychologists of whom 802 had individual psychological assessments. During the school year 1998-99 there were 50 psychologists employed by my Department of whom 26 worked in primary schools and 18 in second-level schools. The other six psychologists were either assigned to supervising duties or were on special assignments for my Department.
On its establishment NEPS employed 24 psychologists for work in primary schools and 18 psychologists for second level schools. The agency is currently recruiting 25 additional psychologists and it hopes to recruit a further 25 psychologists by the end of the current school year. Assuming that these numbers of psychologists are assigned to the primary and post-primary sectors in approximately the same ratio as at present, it may be expected that about 3,000 individual psychological assessments of students in schools will be carried out by the new service in 1999-2000, of which about 2,000 may be expected at primary level and about 1,000 at second level. This estimate takes account of the fact that the additional psychologists will join the new agency at various times during the school year and would not be available for school work during the full school year.
It should be noted that individual psychological assessment of children is only one part of the psychologists' work. Supporting schools in preventing problems arising is also a most important part of the work.
The management committee of NEPS, which includes officials from my Department and the Department of Health and Children, is addressing, as a matter of urgency, the needs of children in schools not yet served by NEPS so that urgent cases can be attended to by NEPS psychologists and by the Department of Health and Children pending the expansion of the agency.
Towards the end of the last school year, a number of psychologists were contracted to deal with a backlog of almost 200 cases primarily in relation to applications for special arrangements for the certificate examinations. Such an option would be considered in the future should the situation warrant it.