Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Absolutely. The role of our Department is to provide, working with our sector, the capacity and pathways for graduates, as well courses and upskilling and reskilling across a range of public services. When the HSE and the Department of Health complete their work on their psychology review with the Department of Education, we stand ready to do more on this.

The Deputy is entirely right. I saw this during my time in health and I see it now in this Department. There are many times where it is not just funding that is constrained, it is actually the availability of a skilled professional to carry out a job within the public service. To share the most recent data I have available with the Deputy, which are for the year 2020-21, at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, the Deputy’s alma mater, there were 168 people registered on educational psychology courses. Forty-one were on the bachelor of education in educational psychology, 19 on the doctorate in educational and child psychology and 108 on education and psychology courses. There were also 41 people engaged in educational psychology courses in University College Dublin, UCD. I will share the data with the Deputy.

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