Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

How will the pilot project for NEPS psychologists that is being rolled out change the way we allocate resources? Where does that fit in? One of the biggest criticisms I hear from principals arises when they have several children who they believe are in need of an assessment by a NEPS psychologist. Some schools with limited access to a psychologist are being forced to limit the number of children they can put forward for assessment.

There could be a number of students within a school who the teacher might feel would benefit from an assessment that would provide a diagnosis that would allow them get resources, but because the school does not have access to a NEPS psychologist, it can only put forward one or two students rather than an unlimited number. How are we going to address this issue? One school I am dealing with in Cork would like to be able to send six or seven students who it feels have a learning difficulty for assessment by a NEPS psychologist, but because the school has limited access to a psychologist, it will probably only succeed in getting assessments for two, or possibly three, this year. This means three or four students will not have an assessment, leading to a delay in diagnosis and in targeting resources at those students. How can we overcome this situation? Some parents will have to get private assessments done, but these cost approximately €400. Will the new model and the pilot project to be rolled out address some of those issues?