Vol. 520 No. 5
192 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Science the degree to which he expects to enhance the school psychological service at all levels throughout the country; if his attention has been drawn to the pressing needs in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16304/00]
There are currently 43 psychologists employed in the National Educational Psychological Service. Improvement and expansion of the service offered by NEPS will begin when additional psychologists are in place. I anticipate that, by the end of the year 2000, nearly 100 psychologists will be in post. This is half of the current final target of 200 psychologists proposed for NEPS so, by the end of this year, there should be a marked improvement in the level of service being offered by the agency.
Eventually, NEPS psychologists will be organised in ten regions, corresponding to the health board regions. The overall allocation of psychologists to the regions will be largely based on the projected student numbers in each region. In the interests of equity, each cohort of psychologists will be shared among the regions on a pro rata basis, until each region has reached its target staffing quota.
Within each region, priorities for expansion will be informed by the results of a survey of each county, currently being undertaken by the NEPS psychologists. Among other things, they are examining evidence of disadvantage, the incidence of special needs and the level of access to other psychological services. Letters and submissions on behalf of particular schools and areas that have been sent to NEPS will be included in the survey as evidence of need.
