Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 785: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if her attention has been drawn to the fact that assessments carried out by privately employed educational psychologists take a half day while those carried out by National Educational Psychological Service psychologists take a number of school visits; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20646/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will be aware that all primary and post primary schools have access to psychological assessments either directly through the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS), or through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA). Where there is no psychologist available through NEPS, a school may access psychological assessments through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA). Under the SCPA, such schools 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.

Pending the expansion of NEPS coverage of schools the SCPA was specifically introduced to minimise delays for those children who need to be assessed on an urgent basis. SCPA allows one assessment per 50 pupils enrolled in the school.

The SCPA psychologist's remit essentially entails a once-off request to conduct a formal assessment of an identified pupil. This process typically includes (1) the administering of both cognitive (I.Q.) and educational attainment tests (literacy & numeracy) (2) the scoring of those tests (3) interviews with parents and teachers and (4) the drafting of outcome report and recommendations. The process involves an estimated eight hours in-put by the chosen panellist including 4 hours to conduct the test and interviews.

In common with many other psychological services, NEPS encourages a staged assessment model, whereby each school takes responsibility for initial assessment, educational planning and remedial intervention, in consultation with their assigned NEPS psychologist. Only if there is a failure to make reasonable progress in spite of the school's best efforts, will a child be referred for individual psychological assessment.

The NEPS psychologist's engagement with his/her assigned schools represents a holistic approach to supporting pupil's psychological well-being. It involves the provision of a range of advisory supports to school authorities and teachers in the application of the staged model, in-service training support, general consultations on matters of concern, on-going consultation/ review of specific pupil's issues and direct observation, as well as the application of formal assessment routines.

While it is difficult to generalise regarding the nature of formal assessments, due to the wide variety and complexities of individual cases presenting in schools, the broader context in which the NEPS psychologist interacts with schools can result with different attendance patterns in relation to individual pupils. However in relation to the carrying out of formal assessments the range and time in-put are comparable and both achieve the aim of the provision of the most appropriate resource and educational support for the individual pupil concerned. I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.