Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide in tabular form the number of educational psychologists currently available to primary and post primary schools under the National Educational Psychological Service; the number provided in each year since NEPS was established in 1999; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46390/12]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of and percentage of primary schools who do not have access to an educational psychologist; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46391/12]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number and percentage of post primary schools that do not have access to an educational psychologist; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46392/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 270 to 272, inclusive, together.

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 and paid for by NEPS.

In common with many other psychological services and best international practice, NEPS 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 child be referred for individual psychological assessment. This system allows the 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. Prospective candidates for assessment are discussed in general terms and agreed by the Principal and assigned psychologist. Parental consent to proceed with the assessment is obtained and a referral document is raised by the school, with input from parents and teachers outlining the child's specific difficulties and education history.

There are currently 167 psychologists employed within my Department's NEPS service (amounting to some nearly 159 whole-time equivalents when working sharing is factored in) and I attach for the Deputies information a table of the number of psychologists employed in this regard by year since its inception in 1999.

These psychologists are assigned currently to some 83% of Primary schools (representing 89% of the pupil population) and 93% of Post-Primary Schools (the same proportion of student population). Therefore some 570 primary and 48 post-primary schools have no NEPS psychologist assigned to them and, as described above receive assessment service from the S.C.P.A. I can inform the Deputy that an additional 10 new psychologists are currently engaged with the public appointments service with a view to their being recruited to NEPS in the current academic year at which stage, and following a short period of induction, they will be assigned schools.

No. of Educational Psychologists employed in NEPS by Year.