Vol. 537 No. 5
616 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Science the degree to which it is intended to meet current and future requirements in respect of school psychological services at primary and second level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17318/01]
The planning group that prepared proposals for a national educational psychological service recommended in September 1998 that the Minister for Education and Science should establish a national educational psychological service agency, as an executive agency of the Department. The report also recommended that the agency would have an overall target number of 200 psychologists. This will allow for an educational psychological service to be provided to all primary and post-primary schools.
The new NEPS agency 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. I also intend 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.
However, I recognise that there is a current need for some schools and parents to be able to gain access to psychological assessments pending the full development of the NEPS service. I recently announced the allocation of £1.25 million to NEPS for the purchase of assessments from private practitioners. The management of NEPS has developed an action plan for the implementation of this scheme. Guidelines on how to avail of the scheme will be issued to schools before the end of this month.
