Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 158: To ask the Minister for Education and Science, further to Parliamentary Question No. 1062 of 30 January 2008, the schools to which the two additional educational psychologists have been assigned in County Kildare. [11106/08]

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. I can inform the Deputy that the coverage by NEPS psychologists of primary and primary schools in Co. Kildare has increased from 54% in 2006/07 to 79% in the current academic year. This increase has taken place in the context, inter alia, of the appointment of two new psychologists to the NEPS Naas office. There follows for the Deputy's information a list of the schools so covered.

Since May 2007 the number of psychologists employed within the NEPS service nationally has increased from 128 to 138 and during 2008 this complement will increase to 169. In this regard, following a national recruitment process put in place in late 2007 by the Public Appointments Service, interviews in this regard have recently been completed and regional panels are currently being formed from which recruits will be drawn for appointment to priority regions. As I have previously stated, and in line with Government commitments under the T2016 Agreement, it is further my intention to increase NEPS psychologist personnel to 200 during 2009.