Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 63: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans on the appointment of school psychologists; and the progress that has been made in providing psychologists in schools. [32600/11]

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 the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) or through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (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. NEPS currently directly employs some 174 psychologists sited in 22 local and Regional offices countrywide and assigned to schools in their respective catchment areas. Recruitment of additional psychologist staff has been ongoing and in the past year some 23 have been employed within the service (most recently 3 in September 2011) offset somewhat by the loss of 5 staff due to resignation or retirement. At present some 93% of primary and post-primary pupils are in schools with a NEPS psychologist assigned an increase from 86% for the same period last year. In regard to commitments within the Programme for Government to further expand NEPS staffing psychologist staffing levels I will be consulting with colleagues within Government in relation to this and other such commitments with a view to the timing of the implementation thereof at which stage I will make public my Department's intentions in this regard.