Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 536: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if her Department recruited extra staff to the Educational Welfare Board and the National Educational Psychological Service as promised in the Programme for Government; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3370/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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This government is determined to do all that is possible to ensure that every child gets all the opportunities and support they need to enable them to achieve their potential and participate fully in education. Through increased investment and improved services we are determined to optimise access, participation and educational outcomes at every level of the system for disadvantaged groups. The programme for government is committed to providing these educational supports to the most vulnerable sections of our society.

In addition to the programme for government, the partnership agreement "Towards 2016" includes provision for an additional 100 posts in total for the NEWB and the National Educational Psychological Service by 2009. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that under the Ist Phase of the agreement, an additional 15 staff were allocated to the NEWB during 2007. I have been informed by the Board that the recruitment process is ongoing and will be finalised shortly. This allocation brings the current authorised staffing of the Board to 109 posts of which 90 are working directly in the service delivery area. The staffing complement is comprised of 19 HQ and support staff, 5 Regional Managers, 13 Senior EWO's and 72 EWO's. The financial allocation to the Board in 2008 is €10.119million.

With regard to the recruitment of psychologists for the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS), 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.

I can inform the Deputy that the number of NEPS psychologists increased from 128 to a current level of 139 during 2007. As I have previously announced, my Department is committed to increasing psychological service staffing further, so that by 2009 there will be 200 NEPS psychologists in the service. In this regard, and 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 will be made as soon as possible, leading during 2008 to an expansion in NEPS psychologist numbers to 169.

The recruitment of extra staff to both services will continue to strengthen local delivery and contribute to improving the coverage in respect of services provided by both NEPS and the NEWB. The ongoing allocation of posts will continue to be evaluated in light of operational experience and identified need.

It must also be remembered that these services are just two aspects of the comprehensive framework that this Government has put in place to support schools, families and young people themselves. In this regard, extra supports targeted at young people in disadvantaged areas include both educational initiatives such as intensive literacy programmes and the provision of breakfast and homework clubs. In fact, in addition to the NEWB, there are currently in excess of 620 staff within the education sector in education disadvantage programmes of which over 130 are additional posts allocated under DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) the action plan for educational inclusion which provides for a standardised system for identifying levels of disadvantage and a new integrated School Support Programme (SSP). The School Completion Programme (SCP) is a preventative measure designed to combat issues of poor attendance and early school leaving. The Home School Community Liaison Scheme (HSCL) works to involve parents in their children's education which is a crucial component in convincing young people of the value of education. School attendance is a central objective of School Completion Programme with targeted interventions for children at risk of early school leaving through a variety of extra supports aimed at encouraging them to stay in school. The supports cover both educational and non-educational interventions and are provided during and outside of school time. Work is ongoing to develop appropriate protocols for all agencies and services to work together in collaboration and to ensure that optimum use is made of the resources deployed.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 537: To ask the Minister for Education and Science when she will implement the Educate for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 as promised in the programme for Government; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3371/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will know, the legislature, in passing the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act, 2004, recognised that implementation would require a considerable change agenda, to develop and support inclusive schools to deliver on the provisions of the Act. For this reason, the EPSEN Act, 2004 specifically refers to a five year implementation period. The National Council for Special Education was required, by the Act, to make a report on the implementation of the Act and I accept the core thrust of the principles and recommendations set out by the Council in its Implementation Report. I am anxious to implement the Act in full in the quickest time possible. However, following consideration of the issues raised in the Council's implementation plan, and the consultations to date with the Education Partners, I consider that the five year timeframe acknowledged in the legislation is the appropriate period in which to implement the provisions of the Act.

A number of sections of the Act have been commenced, principally those establishing the National Council for Special Education and those promoting an inclusive approach to the education of children with special needs. Specifically, the following sections have been commenced: 1, 2, 14(1)(a), 14(1)(c), 14(2) to 14(4), 19 to 37, 40 to 53.

The remaining sections have not yet been commenced. As the EPSEN Act does not provide for phased commencement by age cohort the education sector must be in a position to provide the required services to all children before the relevant provisions are commenced. My Department's priority, therefore, has been to put in place the resources required for children with special educational needs, and to ensure that the necessary supports are in place to facilitate the commencement of the remaining sections of the Act. It must also be acknowledged that, during this necessary period of preparation and planning for the roll-out of the EPSEN Act, my Department continues to expand capacity and services for students with special educational needs. I am committed to continue this expansion of services to ensure that schools have the necessary capacity to support students with special educational needs. It is envisaged that proposals for the implementation of the Act will be completed shortly by a working group in my Department with a view to the full implementation of the Act by 2010.