Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)
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Question 186: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the waiting times involved for children in County Cavan who are availing of the National Educational Psychological Service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9839/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Provision of individual psychological assessments is part of the work of the educational psychologists in the National Educational Psychological Service. The psychologists do not keep waiting lists of children requiring assessment. School authorities refer children for assessment and discuss the relative urgency of each case during the psychologist's visits. This allows the psychologists to give early attention to urgent cases and such children will be seen or referred on in a matter of weeks, if not days.

Four psychologists, approximately equivalent to two whole-time psychologists, provide a service to 52 of 90 schools in County Cavan. In Cavan 51 assessments have been undertaken to date in the school year and a further 27 are planned. The average time between an assessment being agreed between a school and a psychologist and completion of the assessment is five weeks. In order to respond to non-urgent needs and to add value to the psychological service, NEPS is enhancing the skills of teachers in the areas of group and individual testing, programme development and behavioural management. In this way many children's needs can be speedily met without the necessity for individual psychological assessment, although the psychologists are available as consultants to teachers and parents, thus helping the children in an indirect way. This helps to reduce waiting times for individual assessment.

NEPS is being developed on a phased basis over several years and has not yet reached its full staffing complement. Regarding schools in County Cavan that do not yet have access to it, my Department has allocated funding to NEPS to allow for the commissioning of psychological assessments from private practitioners. NEPS has issued details of how to avail of the scheme for commissioning psychological assessments to all schools and these also appear on my Department's website.

Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)
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Question 187: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the waiting times involved for children in County Monaghan who are availing of the National Educational Psychological Service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9840/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Provision of individual psychological assessments is part of the work of the educational psychologists in the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS. The psychologists do not keep waiting lists of children requiring assessment in the sense of lists of names that are dealt with in chronological order. School authorities refer children for assessment and discuss the relative urgency of each case during the psychologist's visits. This allows the psychologists to give early attention to urgent cases and such children will be seen or referred on in a matter of weeks, if not days.

At present, five NEPS psychologists, approximately two whole-time equivalent, provide a service to 57 schools out of 77 schools in County Monaghan. In Monaghan schools the number of assessments undertaken to date this year is 44 and a further 38 are planned. This does not include assessments undertaken in six of the schools, for which information is not immediately available as the psychologist assigned to those schools is on annual leave.

Information to hand indicates that in County Monaghan, the average time between an assessment being agreed between a school and a psychologist and the assessment being completed is five weeks. In order to respond to non-urgent needs and to add value to the psychological service, NEPS is pursuing a policy of enhancing the skills of teachers in the areas of group and individual testing, programme development and behavioural management. This means that many children's needs can be speedily met without the necessity for individual psychological assessment, although the psychologists are available as consultants to teachers and parents, thus helping the children in an indirect way. This policy helps to reduce waiting times for individual assessment.

NEPS is being developed on a phased basis over a number of years and has not yet reached its full staffing complement. In relation to those schools in County Monaghan that do not yet have a NEPS service, my Department has allocated funding to NEPS to allow for the commissioning of psychological assessments from private practitioners. NEPS has issued details of how to avail of the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments, SCPA, to all schools and these also appear on my Department's website.

Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)
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Question 188: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of children in County Cavan who are being assessed and receiving counselling under the National Educational Psychological Service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9841/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The work of the educational psychologists in the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, includes casework with individual children. This may involve individual psychometric assessment, provision of advice and recommendations to teachers and parents on meeting the child's needs and occasionally some short term counselling support. Counselling would be in the context of less serious emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. Where serious difficulties are being experienced, a referral to the clinical services of the Health Service Executive, HSE, is initiated, with the consent of the child's parents, for further diagnostic work and intervention which may include counselling.

At present, four NEPS psychologists, approximately two whole time equivalent, provide a service to 52 schools out of a total of 90 schools in County Cavan. The number of assessments undertaken to date in the current school year is 51 and a further 27 are planned. The psychologists working in Cavan have indicated that no children are in receipt of counselling from NEPS psychologists in the current school year. A total of 14 children have been referred to the clinical services of the HSE in Cavan-Monaghan for various reasons. Four of these referrals were made following critical incidents in schools which necessitated involvement by NEPS psychologists.

NEPS adds value to the psychological services it provides through its support and development work with schools. This involves enhancing the skills of teachers in, for example, the areas of group and individual testing, behavioural management and programme development. In particular, NEPS psychologists in the north eastern region meet clusters of guidance counsellors and other specialist teachers on a regular basis. This means that the counselling and educational needs of many children can be met in an indirect way without the necessity for individual psychological assessment or other interventions.