Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, for attending. I am glad this matter was selected because, to a certain extent, I am not surprised when we get representations in regard to waiting times for assessments, access to therapies or even National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, appointments. When I first saw the letter from the school, “NEPS” jumped out at me on the page and I thought it was going to be about the number of assessments the school had. I know many schools find it very difficult, when they only have a certain number of assessments per year, to go through their list and nearly have to pick who they think deserves it most, even though all students who need an assessment deserve it equally. The letter states the school has no NEPS psychologist and that none has been assigned to the school, which is very concerned at the loss of this vital support.

The school NEPS psychologists work with both primary and post-primary schools and are concerned with learning behaviour and social and emotional development. Each of the 221 psychologists is assigned to a group of schools and, earlier this year, this school, Newtown Dunleckney National School in Carlow, was notified that no NEPS psychologist had been assigned. Sometimes, when a Topical Issue matter is selected, I am hopeful this means there might be some positive news or development on the way, so I hope the Minister of State has some good news for that school and that it will have a NEPS psychologist. I am sure the school has furnished a copy of this letter to the Department or the Minister of State. The school is encouraging people to go to their GP to get a referral, but it knows those students are going onto a never-ending waiting list, which is extremely demoralising.

At the end of all of this, we have to think of the children who are being denied access to a full and proper education if they need an assessment and are not getting that, particularly if there is no psychologist. It sometimes happens that if there is any sort of sudden or tragic event in a school, it is usually the NEPS psychologist who is called in, so what does a school in this situation do? That is just one part of it. The main thing is the assessments children vitally need, given the difference it can make to a child in terms of being able to access additional resource hours or access to a special needs assistant.

We are always told people do not necessarily need a diagnosis, yet experience would say different. People will say that when they are trying to access these resource hours, special needs assistants or additional supports, they are told they need to have a diagnosis. I would be interested to hear what the Minister of State has to stay to that particular school on not having a NEPS psychologist.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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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.

Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State. I will talk to the school about contacting NEPS directly and about what I would describe as interim measures in terms of the regional team. I imagine the regional team could be overstretched as well, but I do not know that. It is, however, a common occurrence.

In regard to what the Minister of State says about no school being without a NEPS psychologist, obviously some schools do not have one if the person concerned got a promotion. Perhaps it is not the only school affected. I imagine that a number of schools is assigned to each psychologist. The school in question is very much of the opinion that it was informed that there is not a psychologist assigned to it. I do not know if there has been a breakdown in communication but that is the information the school has got when it has children waiting to be referred for assessment. I disagree with what the Minister of State has said about the school having a NEPS psychologist because with all due respect, the school would not have contacted me and asked me to raise it if it had access to the service.

Is the private service to which the Minister of State referred something a school can avail of? Is there a cost to the school or is it covered? I would imagine that if there is a cost to the school that it would not be an option for the vast majority of schools, which we already know are under pressure in terms of fundraising and everything else, in particular with the increased costs. It is interesting to hear about the private service if it is something the school can access in the interim because it might be a helpful stopgap while waiting for somebody to be appointed.

I assume that a person will be appointed as a psychologist to the school, or whatever group of schools in the area that is potentially missing a psychologist as a result of the promotion.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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To be clear, the Deputy is correct that there is not an assigned psychologist available at present. The point that I was trying to make is that the school does continue to have access to support and development work, which is delivered by the local team for critical incident response, as outlined by the Deputy. There is advisory support as well from an allocated psychologist for pupil casework. There is also an advisory psychologist who can respond to any queries that the school may have, and support from SCPA, which is the private service. I do not know whether there is a cost implication for this service, so I do not want to comment on it, but it is worth the school inquiring. We have 225 psychologists throughout the country across eight different NEPS regions. In 2014, there were only 173. There was an increase of 54 in this budget.

Deputy Funchion asked about the recruitment of a psychologist. The competition is ongoing at present. Like any national service, there are gaps but it is important to say that there is access to a psychologist for the school. Deputy Funchion has brought the matter to my attention again today, which will bring it to the attention of the Department. It is also worth the school contacting NEPS directly and inquiring about the private service if the NEPS regional team is not itself in a position to assist. There are a lot of supports in place for well-being and counselling and other such measures that will assist the school.