Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 470: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of additional educational psychologists recruited to date following her announcement of the recruitment of 31 additional psychologists, and in view of the fact that the National Educational Psychological Service are aware of these additional recruitments for three months and they must have drawn up and allocation for same per county; and if she will advise on same. [13916/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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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.

The Public Appointments Commission is recruiting the extra psychologists and officials of my Department are also in the process of prioritising the Regions and locations where these new recruits will be based.

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.