Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this Topical Issue matter. In my capacity as Minister of State with responsibility for special education, NEPS is not directly under my remit but, notwithstanding that, I am very happy to talk about it this evening. Obviously, it is a separate service to special needs assistants, SNAs, and special education teachers, but NEPS is a very important service that is provided to all 4,000 primary and post-primary schools.

The Deputy mentioned, for example, what would happen in the circumstances of a tragic event. It is important for the Deputy and the House if I outline how NEPS works in those circumstances. First, there will be direct engagement where there is what it would call a “critical incident”, which would be, for example, a tragic situation in a particular school.

I have made inquiries specifically in regard to Newtown Dunleckney National School because, as the Deputy said, this is a Topical Issue matter that is particular and pertinent to this school. The Deputy will understand that in any national service at any given time, there can be gaps. My understanding in regard to the psychologist in that particular school is that the person was promoted. It can happen at any given time in a national service that a psychologist, or whatever person, can be absent for a number of reasons, for example, due to promotion, retirement, sick leave, maternity leave or a myriad of different reasons. Where there are gaps in the NEPS system for a particular school, the school can contact NEPS directly. The school has not contacted NEPS directly and I want the Deputy to be aware of that. I would suggest that, following this Topical Issue matter, the Deputy can let the school know she brought it up with me directly this evening in the Dáil Chamber and the school should contact NEPS head office for support until that recruitment process has been completed. While it has been brought up in parliamentary questions and here in the Dáil Chamber, it has not been brought up directly by the school with NEPS. That is the first thing that needs to be done.

What can happen is one of two things. The school can either get support from the regional team through the NEPS head office, and there is a private psychological service that can be availed of, which is under the scheme for the commissioning of psychological assessments, SCPA, which can be relied upon on occasion. Therefore, it is either the regional teams through NEPS head office or the private psychological service.

That is the way that I would suggest the school should proceed if it wants to get extra support, should it require it.

It is incorrect to say that at any given time, a psychologist is removed from a school because that never happens. It is never the case. As I stated, across any national service, there is absenteeism for various reasons but the gaps are filled by others. In this particular instance, the written statement that I have, which I am sure the Deputy has a copy of, is directly from the Department and uses language that I am trying to make more easily digestible in terms of what the school should do from a practical perspective. It sets out quite clearly the steps concerning the type of model that is used and the fact that there is an assigned psychologist. There is an advisory support from an allocated psychologist, so there are people available to respond to queries. However, from a practical perspective, that is what I think the school should do.

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