Liam Burke
Ceist:64 Mr. L. Burke asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason for the slow progress in developing the national educational psychological service. [6889/01]
Written Answers. - Psychological Service.
The planning group established to prepare proposals for a national educational psychological service recommended, inter alia, in its September 1998 report, that the Minister for Education and Science should establish a national educational psychological service agency (NEPS), as an executive agency of his Department. The report also recommended that the agency would have an overall target number of 200 psychologists and 36 administrative/secretarial staff, and that this target should be achieved over a period of five years, beginning during the school year 1999/2000.
The new NEPS agency as proposed came into existence on 1 September 1999 with the 42 psychologists already employed in the service. The recruitment of additional psychologists involved the organisation of a competition through the Civil Service and Local Appointments Commission. Notwithstanding the time consuming nature of such competitions there are now 82 psychologists in NEPS and by the end of this school year there will be 100 psychologists in the service. It is also intended to proceed with the recruitment of a further 28 psychologists before the end of this calendar year. This will raise the staffing to 128 and greatly improve the service.
Question No. 65 answered with Question No. 54.
Question No. 66 answered with Question No. 24.