Michael Noonan (Limerick East, Fine Gael)
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Question 927: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the reason two schools (details supplied) in County Limerick have not been included under the auspices of NEPS; if she will arrange to have them included; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1247/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware 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, whereby the school 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. The two schools referred to by the Deputy in his question currently have access to the SCPA service.

I can also inform the Deputy that it is my intention in the current year to expand the number of psychologists employed by the NEPS service, and consequentially the number of schools having access to that service, from the current 139 to some 169. In this regard, following a national recruitment process put in place in late 2007 by the Public Appointments Service, interviews are currently being held to form regional panels from which appointments to priority regions, including Co. Limerick will be made as soon as possible.