Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 230: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the extent to which speech and language therapy or psychological services are available throughout County Kildare with particular reference to the need to ensure quality services; her plans to meet these requirements as a matter of urgency; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22122/07]

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). Schools that do not currently have NEPS psychologists assigned to them may avail of the SCPA and 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. The prioritisation of urgent cases for assessment is a matter for the school principal in the first instance.

In addition 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 relation to all schools, NEPS processes applications for Reasonable Accommodation in Certificate Examinations and responds to queries in relation to individual children from other sections of my Department and from the specialist agencies.

I can inform the Deputy that the availability of speech and language therapy is a matter in the first instance for the appropriate arm of the Health Service Executive.