Vol. 552 No. 1
791 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Education and Science the psychological services available in the Cork area to assess children; the numbers waiting in each of these services; the average waiting time; his plans to augment these services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11790/02]
The national educational psychological service was established on 1 September 1999 and is an executive agency of the Department of Education and Science.
NEPS has delegated authority to develop and provide an educational psychological service to all students in primary and post-primary schools and in certain other centres supported by the Department. Provision of assessments is part of the work of the educational psychologists in NEPS.
The Southern Health Board and voluntary bodies under its aegis also provide assessment services for children in the Cork area and the availability and development of such services is a matter for the Minister for Health and Children.
It is envisaged that there will be at least 21 NEPS psychologists deployed in Cork City and County when NEPS has achieved full nationwide coverage by the end of 2002. Notwithstanding the time-consuming nature of recruitment competitions for professional staff, the complement of psychologists in the Cork area has increased from six on establishment date to 10.5 on 31 December 2001. The Civil Service and Local Appointments Commission is reaching the final stages of the current recruitment competition for NEPS. It is intended to appoint additional psychologists to the southern region from this competition.
The NEPS service is now available in the Cork area to approximately 100 primary schools and to 87 post-primary schools. Pending the expansion of NEPS to the remaining schools in the area, my Department has allocated funding to NEPS to allow for the commissioning of psychological assessments from private practitioners. NEPS has issued details of how to avail of this scheme to all schools.
