Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 486: To ask the Minister for Education and Science her plans for the improvement of the National Educational Psychological Service with details of the number of extra psychologists that will be recruited into the service; the funding provided in 2007 for this purpose; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6063/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I can inform the Deputy that the number of psychologists in the Department has increased from 43 since the establishment of NEPS in 1999 to a current figure of 127, including 4 psychologists assigned to the National Behavioural Support Service. There are also a further 16 Whole-time-equivalent educational psychologists providing service through the Dublin City and County VECs. Taken together, there are currently 143 educational psychologists working in services paid for by my Department.

I announced recently in this connection my intention to expand the number of NEPS psychologists by a further 31 in 2007. This will represent a significant increase in the number of psychologists in NEPS and bring the total number of psychologists in the system to 174.

At this time 6 of these psychologists are in the process of being appointed and officials of my Department will shortly engage in discussions with the Public Appointments Commission with a view to recruiting the remaining complement as expeditiously as possible within 2007. Decisions in relation to the actual placement of the extra psychologists will be made in the context of existing and developing priorities for the National Education Psychological Service.

This budgetary allocation for NEPS amounts to €17.7m in 2007. In line with the Government's 'Towards 2016' commitments, the number of NEPS psychologists will be increased even further in each of 2008 and 2009, to a total of 193. At this point, including the 16 psychologists in the Dublin VEC areas, it is expected that the number of educational psychologists in the system as a whole will be 209.