Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 199: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Science if she will report on whether the moratorium on recruitment in the public service will be lifted to fill a position (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13211/10]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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I can inform the Deputy 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), where schools 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.

NEPS in common with other psychological services encourages a staged assessment process whereby each school takes responsibility for initial assessment, educational planning and remedial intervention, in consultation with their assigned NEPS psychologist. Only if there is a failure to make reasonable progress in spite of the school's best efforts, will a student be referred for individual psychological assessment. This system allows the psychologists to give early attention to urgent cases and also to help many more students indirectly than could be seen individually.

The introduction of the General Allocation model for primary schools in 2005/06 means that children with high incidence special needs can get access to extra support without having to undergo an individual assessment.

Children who manifest very special or urgent needs in school and who have not been previously assessed by a psychologist and are brought to the attention of a NEPS psychologist by the Principal teacher will usually be assessed by the psychologist within that school term. Normally, principals of schools prioritise those children in need of psychological assessment in consultation with the assigned psychologist.

In the case of schools that do not currently have dedicated NEPS psychologists assigned to them, as I already mentioned, such schools have access to psychological assessments through the SCPA. Under this Scheme, schools can commission assessments from a member of the panel of private practitioners approved by NEPS, and NEPS will pay the fees directly to the psychologist concerned.

I have made enquiries with my Department's local NEPS service in Ennis, Co Clare and am informed that they have not been made aware of a backlog of cases awaiting assessment in the school mentioned in the Deputy's query.

Furthermore I can confirm to the Deputy that the expansion of the NEPS service has been excepted from the stricture of the moratorium on recruitment in the public service and my government has made specific commitment within the Renewed Programme for Government to an overall expansion of NEPS psychologist numbers to 210 - current NEPS staffing numbers stand at 156.

In this regard a national recruitment competition has been recently launched by the Public Appointments Service on behalf of my Department with a view to the creation of a panel of suitably qualified psychologists to enable the employment of these additional staff as quickly as possible. The NEPS Mid-West Region will be a target for this recruitment drive.

In the interim should authorities, in the school referred to by the Deputy, have specific difficulties with regard any of the foregoing I would suggest that they should contact the relevant local NEPS Regional Director, for whom contact details are available on my Department's website.