Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive response to my Commencement matter. This is about trying to find a pathway. The universities are important in that regard and we need to increase the number of university graduates. A large cohort of private psychologists are doing a very important job. I know of cases of school principals contacting the local Society of St. Vincent de Paul to have private assessments paid for. That has worked well.

The number of psychologists in the service is the big issue. The recruitment campaign is very much welcomed but it comes back to making sure sufficient graduates come out of the universities. We need to make sure we have a line of graduates coming out. We need to reduce the 5,000:1 pupil to psychologist ratio. That is an amazing figure considering the workload required of these people who work so hard, and the vulnerable children in society who need support. A little bit of support in the early years goes such a long way afterwards.