Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)

I thank the Minister for her reply but her assessment that everything in the garden is rosy is very far from what I hear from parents, principals and people involved in disability organisations.

When does she expect to reach the target of a full complement of NEPS psychologists so that every school in the country has access to NEPS? Will she increase the current quota, which allows for two psychological assessments per 100 children, for schools which do not have access to NEPS? A school of 100 children might have 20 children in need of access to a psychological assessment so that they can get specific supports. Those children might not fit into a category in the general weighting model introduced a couple of years ago. Without an adequate allocation of psychological assessments, parents who cannot otherwise afford help must go to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

I welcome the fact the Department of Education and Science is in discussion with the Department of Health and Children but the Minister will be aware that some families with children who have specific learning difficulties must wait two or three years for an assessment from the Department of Health and Children, where that is more appropriate than a NEPS assessment. They can get a letter stating the child requires certain supports but not a diagnosis. Can the Minister address that issue? It is a real problem, particularly at post-primary level where some children wait years for the necessary diagnosis and so go without any support at all.

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