Barry Cowen
Ceist:83. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated full year cost of employing an additional 100 new National Educational Psychological Service psychologists. [19416/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 3 May 2018
Ceisteanna (83)
Freagraí scríofa
I can inform the Deputy that my Department's National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides an educational psychological service to all primary and post primary schools through an assigned NEPS psychologist and in some cases through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA), full details of which are on the Department's website.
The Programme for a Partnership Government commits that we will invest additional resources in the National Educational Psychological Service to ensure earlier intervention and access for young children and teenagers and to offer immediate support to schools in cases of critical incidents. The Programme commits to increasing psychologist numbers in NEPS by 65. I can inform the Deputy that to increase this number by a further 100 psychologists would demand a direct investment of some €7.3m per annum.