Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The new model was proposed because the system was perceived to be unfair in so far as people felt they had to pay for private diagnoses. The National Educational Psychological Service was not designed to spend all its time on diagnosis. It is meant to be a support service. Nevertheless, a huge amount of time is being taken up on the process of diagnosis. One can certainly question the labelling of children at a young age in order to provide them with the supports they need. That is why the new model was proposed. The pilot scheme that is under way this year is designed to find out about the kind of questions Deputy McConalogue has just asked with regard to ensuring schools get the level of support they need and that the model will work for schools. I will not comment on it at this stage as I have not yet received any reports as to how the model is working. We will have to consider it carefully in terms of what will be put in place for the future.

See this speech in context