Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 229: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the reason a school (details supplied) in County Galway has been prevented from gaining access to the National Educational Psychological Service; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that the management of the school were informed in November 2005 that the school was no longer in the NEPS scheme and that the position would be reviewed at Easter 2006, that no such review has taken place and that the NEPS scheme should be made available as a matter of urgency to this school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25687/07]

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 and paid for by NEPS. The prioritisation of urgent cases for assessment is a matter for the school principal in the first instance. NEPS is regionally based organisation with some 20 offices countrywide. Coverage of schools by NEPS psychologists is dependant upon the staffing levels in a given region and such coverage is reviewed on a regular basis within each region and office. The Deputy may be aware that since NEPS was established in 1999, we have trebled the number of psychologists in the service and that further staffing increases are provided for in the Towards 2016 agreement.