Vol. 520 No. 5
203 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Science the extent of the current child psychological services available in north Kildare at present; his plans for the augmentation of this service to facilitate all the schools of the area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16315/00]
There are currently three national educational psychological service, psychologists assigned to County Kildare. The national policy advisory board of NEPS has been set up to advise me on the development of that service. The board will be advising me on possible strategies to meet the current need for psychological support in schools, taking account of evidence of disadvantage, incidence of special needs and the level of access to other psychological services. In the interest of equity, it is proposed that new psychologists will be distributed on a pro rata basis among the regions until each has reached its target number, which will be determined by the evidence of need. During the development phase of NEPS, the needs of all schools, including those in north County Kildare, will be considered by the board when assigning new psychologists to schools.
