Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 90: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she will provide greater access to educational psychological assessments to schools which do not have a National Educational Psychological Service, in view of the disclosure by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul that a considerable amount of its budget is spent on financing such assessments; if she will reassess the requirements for a clinical diagnosis for certain special needs children before learning supports are provided; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5136/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, this Government has given a very high priority to providing better supports for children with special needs. This year, we will provide over €820 million for special education — an increase of 30%, or €180 million, on last year's allocation. Among other improvements, this increased investment covers the cost of 31 extra NEPS psychologists, including our commitments under Towards 2016.

The number of psychologists in the Department has increased from 43 since the establishment of NEPS in 1999 to a current figure of 127, including four psychologists assigned to the National Behavioural Support Service. There are also a further 16 whole-time equivalent educational psychologists providing a service through the Dublin City and County VECs. Taken together, there are currently 143 educational psychologists working in services paid for by my Department. The expansion of the number of NEPS psychologists by a further 31 in 2007 will represent a significant increase in the numbers in NEPS and bring the total number of psychologists in the system to 174.

I am pleased to inform the Deputy that in line with the Government's Towards 2016 commitments, the number of NEPS psychologists will be increased even further in each of 2008 and 2009, to a total of 193. At this point, including the 16 psychologists in the Dublin VEC areas, it is expected that the number of educational psychologists in the system as a whole will be 209. Therefore, the number of schools covered directly by NEPS psychologists will increase substantially. The number of schools served directly by NEPS is only half the picture as schools which are not covered by the service can commission private assessments paid for by NEPS.

More than 4,000 such private assessments were funded in the 2005-06 academic year. In addition, NEPS psychologists themselves carried out 6,700 assessments. So, in total, nearly 11,000 children had assessments paid for by my Department last year. Given that 11,000 assessments were provided, I was concerned to hear that the Society of St. Vincent De Paul had also paid for some. My Department has contacted the society to ascertain why this was the case. Since the Government provided for a guaranteed allocation of resource teaching hours to all primary schools in 2005, the majority of primary school children do not now need psychological assessments to get extra support.

In common with many other psychological services, NEPS encourages a staged assessment process whereby each school takes responsibility for initial assessment, educational planning and remedial intervention, in consultation with their assigned NEPS psychologist. Only if there is a failure to make reasonable progress, in spite of the school's best efforts, will a child be referred for individual psychological assessment. It is important that such a system be used to ensure that children are not referred unnecessarily for psychological intervention.

It was not clear from the coverage last month whether the staged model had been followed in the cases referred to by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. As I said earlier, we have contacted the society to arrange a meeting to discuss the background to, and context for, any funding it has provided for psychological assessments. As regards clinical diagnosis, discussions are currently under way between the Department of Education and Science and the Department of Health and Children with regard to the implementation of both the Disability Act and the EPSEN Act and these discussions will incorporate discussion on assessment issues. My Department will consider its assessment requirements in this context and as part of the normal ongoing review of policies and procedures.

With the huge increases in investment in special education services in recent years, I am confident that all children with special needs can access resources in an appropriate and speedy manner.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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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.

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy's first question was on when the target would be met. The target set by the planning group was for 184 NEPS psychologists. This year we intend to reach 174 and, in two years' time, we will exceed that figure to reach 209, including the psychologists in the VECs.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Will that cover all schools?

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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It certainly will. With the extra 31 coming on board this year, we will be able to extend the direct coverage. There have been many tragic incidents in schools recently so it is important we do not ignore the service NEPS provides to all schools on such occasions. It plays a very valuable role and school principals very much appreciate it.

The Deputy also asked about the individual allocation in schools. Schools that have applied for further assessments in urgent cases were allowed to have them. A number of schools do not use their full allocation and others carry their allocation forward from one year to the next. Additional assessments have been allowed to schools based on the private scheme. For that reason I am anxious to find out what is behind the need for funding from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. I also want to know whether the funding in question was sought as a last resort or as a first resort, given that a teacher and a school are meant to follow a staged approach prior to a psychological assessment. Even though we have extended the number of NEPS psychologists and introduced a general allocation, meaning every school in the country now has resource teachers, the funding for privately commissioned assessments has increased. There is no question of any cutback in that regard.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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The Minister said all schools will be covered within two years. Does that mean there will be a reasonable workload for NEPS psychologists? Covering schools is one thing but having the capacity to carry out all the necessary psychological assessments is another and that is what schools are seeking. The Minister said schools can get more assessments than allocated but in practice they cannot.

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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There may have been cases where that is the case but I can cite examples of schools which have had additional assessments. Given that the target was set at 184 psychologists, the fact that we will provide 209 will certainly cover the existing need. Those numbers were indicated before the allocation of resource teachers to schools, meaning every school has those teachers as well as a NEPS psychologist for children with individual-specific needs.