Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 101: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of primary and secondary schools covered by the National Educational Psychological Service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39543/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The number of National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, psychologists has increased almost three-fold, from 43 on establishment to 121 at present. The Public Appointments Service has recently established new recruitment panels for NEPS. Regional panels are now in place and my Department is currently in the process of appointing psychologists. Priority will be given to filling vacancies in areas of greatest need. Any increase in the number of psychologists in NEPS will depend on the availability of resources and must also take account of Government policy on public sector numbers.

All primary and post-primary schools have access to psychological assessments for their pupils, either directly through National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, psychologists or through the scheme for commissioning psychological assessments, SCPA, that is administered by NEPS. Schools that do not currently have NEPS psychologists assigned to them may avail of the SCPA, whereby the school can have an assessment carried out by a member of the panel of private psychologists approved by NEPS, and NEPS will pay the psychologist the fees for this assessment directly. Details of this process and the conditions that apply to the scheme are available on my Department's website.

The latest figures available indicate that NEPS psychologists provide a dedicated service to a total of 1,623 primary schools and to 563 post-primary schools. The latter figure does not include 46 Dublin city and county vocational education committee, VEC, schools that have a VEC educational psychological service. NEPS provides assistance to all schools and school communities that experience critical incidents, regardless of whether or not they have a NEPS psychologist assigned to them. Also, in respect of all schools, NEPS processes applications for reasonable accommodation in certificate examinations and responds to queries with regard to individual children from other sections of my Department and from the specialist agencies.