Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 1420: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the progress in regard to the commitment given in the programme for Government to recruit extra staff to the Educational Welfare Board and the National Educational Psychological Service, both of which will prioritise disadvantaged schools. [47978/08]

Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 1421: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the progress in regard to the commitment given in the programme for Government to prioritise early assessment and increase the number of educational psychologists in his Department's National Educational Psychological Service to 200 by 2009. [47979/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1420 and 1421 together.

The Education (Welfare) Act, 2000 established the NEWB as the National body with responsibility for school attendance. The general functions of the Board are to ensure that each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education. The service has been developed incrementally, and, in April 2007, sanction was given to the Board for 15 additional staff bringing the total authorised staffing posts to 109 of which 104 are currently filled.

In 2008 the financial allocation to the Board was €10.085 million. The 2009 allocation is being finalised and will be announced shortly. The funding allocation to the Board has increased incrementally as the service developed and the level of funding in 2008 represented an increase in funding of over 57% to the Board since 2003.

The scale of the economic situation currently being experienced in this country will impact on my Department and it will be necessary to prioritise service provision in the education sector and this will involve tough decisions and choices on funding allocations which may include commitments as they relate to the Board.

I would like to add that the NEWB is just one aspect of the comprehensive framework that this Government has put in place to improve school attendance and encourage more young people to finish school. Home School Community Liaison Coordinators (HSCL) through their work with parents, promote school attendance and its importance for success in school. School attendance is a central objective of the School Completion Programme (SCP) with attendance tracking a core feature and one of its preventative strategies. Access to these services is available to all schools participating in DEIS. In line with Department policy on closer integration of support services the NEWB is working with these programmes to improve the delivery of service to address school attendance.

This approach aims to ensure that optimum use is made of the resources deployed. I can also inform the Deputy that there are currently 155 psychologists employed in my Department's National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) and a further psychologist is due to take up duty shortly.

Additionally I was pleased to announce recently, in the context of Budget 2009, an increase in the funding available to NEPS with which it is envisaged that up to 50 further psychologists can be appointed which will bring the complement to a level in excess of that committed to under the programme for Government.

Recruitment of these psychologists will begin shortly from the existing panel of qualified personnel, until its depletion, and discussions commence between my Department and the Public Appointments Service in relation to the establishment of a new panel in this regard.