Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Will the Opposition listen to the answer and then disagree with it, rather than disagreeing with it before I say anything? Schools which do not have NEPS psychologists assigned to them avail of the scheme and have assessments carried out by a member of the panel of private psychologists approved and paid for by NEPS. In the ten months to the end of October 2006, over €1.25 million was spent on approximately 3,500 of these assessments. The number of schools which are directly served by NEPS is only half the picture. One must remember that all the other schools can access assessments paid for by NEPS through the scheme. As I understand it, this important and fundamental point was missed in last night's programme, but I will wait until I see it. It was missed in the programme.

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