Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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556. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she is concerned at the high number of child psychologist positions that are vacant in our health care system; and if she has raised this issue with the Department of Health. [6663/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Child and Family Agency was formally established on 1 January, 2014. The functions of the Agency as set out in the Child and Family Agency Act, 2013 include responsibility for the provision of services relating to the psychological welfare of children and their families.

Detailed discussions have taken place with the Department of Health and the HSE in order to determine the most effective mechanism for the delivery of psychology services by the Child and Family Agency in accordance with its statutory remit. Lead psychologists, appointed to the Child and Family Agency and the HSE are preparing final proposals for consideration by the Chief Executive Officer of the Child and Family Agency and the Director General, HSE. The work being done in this area will have regard to the current number of psychologists employed within the health and social care system and the deployment of these resources.

Child psychologists are in the main employed at present by the HSE. A small number of clinical psychologists are employed by the Child and Family Agency in the Assessment, Consultation and Therapy Service (ACTS) which operates across special care and high support settings, as well as the children's detention schools. They provide assessment and focused interventions for children and young people with complex clinical needs and high risk behaviours in the context of multi-disciplinary teams. They also provide support to other professionals in order to guide interventions with children and families.

It should be noted that the HSE will continue to have responsibility for a range of other child and adult psychological services including:

- psychological services associated with the provision of specialist mental health services to children;

- adult psychological services other than services which relate to the effective functioning of families and the improvement of relationships between parents and children, including effective parenting;

- psychological services to a child in respect of a disability; or

- psychological assessments in accordance with section 8 of the Disability Act 2005 or with section 4 of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004.