Vol. 574 No. 1
292 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Minister for Education and Science if there is an educational psychologist in County Donegal; if there is a goal of having an educational psychologist made available in Inishowen given that its size is comparable to County Louth and the population exceeds that of County Leitrim; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26330/03]
Under the terms of the development plan for the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, it is envisaged that there will ultimately be 11 educational psychologists providing a service in the north western region – Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim. The most recently available figures indicate that NEPS provides a service to 43% of schools covering 71% of pupils in the region. At present, there are six educational psychologists deployed in the region, of whom 2.5 psychologists, whole-time equivalent, are assigned to County Donegal.
At present, NEPS is not in a position to provide a service in Inishowen as it was not possible to fill the vacant post there from the most recent recruitment competition. Due to general staffing constraints, it is unlikely that there will be further recruitment to NEPS during the current school year. At present, schools that do not yet have a service from NEPS, may avail of the scheme for commissioning psychological assessments. Details of this scheme have been circulated to all schools and are also published on my Department's website.
