Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Question 107: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will detail the number of full-time equivalent educational psychologists employed in the 1996/97 school year and in the current school year; and the number of pupils receiving an assessment in each of those years. [8209/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I can inform the Deputy that all primary and post-primary schools have access to psychological assessments either directly through my Department's 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 and paid for by NEPS.

By way of background, NEPS, in common with many other psychological services and best international practice, has adopted a consultative model of service. The focus is on empowering teachers to intervene effectively with pupils whose special needs range from mild to severe and transient to enduring. Psychologists use a problem solving and solution focused consultative approach to maximize positive outcomes for these pupils. NEPS encourages schools to use a continuum based assessment and intervention process whereby each school takes responsibility for initial assessment, educational planning and remedial intervention for pupils with learning, emotional or behavioural difficulties.

Teachers may consult their NEPS psychologist should they need to at this stage in the process. Only in the event of a failure to make reasonable progress, in spite of the school's best efforts in consultation with NEPS, will the psychologist become involved with an individual child for intensive intervention. This system allows psychologists to give early attention to urgent cases and also to help many more children indirectly than could be seen individually. It also ensures that children are not referred unnecessarily for psychological intervention.

Prior to 1999 an educational psychology service was provided to schools by Inspectors of Guidance & Counselling as part of my Department's Inspectorate Division. In 1995/96 some 4 whole-time equivalent (w.t.e.) Senior Inspectors and 35.5 w.t.e Inspectors were employed in this capacity. It is not known how many assessments would have been undertaken by these officers in 1995/96 but the focus of the service and the context in which it operated was essentially different to that which pertains currently with particular attention being paid to the support of guidance counsellors in post-primary school and a more limited engagement with primary schools.

NEPS was established in 1999 and currently NEPS employs 174 (167.3 w.t.e.) psychologists at Director, Regional Director, Senior Psychologist and Psychologist grades. The figures for the number of named pupils referred to the service in the current year are not yet available as such referrals are still ongoing. In the previous academic year some 7,888 referrals were undertaken by NEPS 149.4 w.t.e. psychologists and an additional 2,400 referrals catered for under the SCPA referred to previously. Additionally NEPS psychologists offer general advice and guidance on unnamed pupils and it is estimated that a further 7,500 pupils would have so benefitted from this input in that year. NEPS psychologists also made recommendations on applications from some 4,100 students under the Reasonable Accommodation for Certificate Examinations on behalf of the State Examinations Commission and assisted in almost 100 critical incidents (instances of trauma connected with schools) at the behest of school authorities.