Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 202: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the reason a person (details supplied) in County Waterford has not been seen by an educational psychologist from the NEPS; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8497/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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As existing assessment reports showed that the named student was eligible for additional support in respect of his varied needs, my Department has allocated resource hours and a special needs assistant to him. A psychological report from NEPS was therefore not needed for the purpose of determining his eligibility for additional resources and, in fact, the school has not requested their assigned NEPS psychologist to assess him.

However, since he entered the school the NEPS psychologist has engaged in a number of consultations with school staff to advise them on how best to manage the student's behaviour. If at any stage the school authorities also feel that an educational psychological assessment would be helpful this will certainly be considered and discussed with them.