Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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96. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the details of the Government's commitment to an additional 65 psychologists in the National Education Psychological Service (NEPS); the reason there has been no sanction for the increase in numbers to NEPS to date in view of the fact that 267 psychologists are needed to achieve the 2021 target of 1 per every 3,500 students in the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40215/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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My Department’s National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides an educational psychological service to all primary and post primary schools through an assigned NEPS psychologist and in some cases through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA), full details of which are in the NEPS section of my Department's website. Under this scheme 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 provides a valuable service to the school community and one which I view as a priority. The service has, over the course of recent economic difficulties, not only maintained psychologist staffing levels within NEPS, but has increased them by some 10% since late 2008, to 162 whole time equivalent psychologists currently employed.

Additionally the Programme for a Partnership Government commits to the further expansion in the National Educational Psychological Service to ensure earlier intervention and access for young children and teenagers and to offer immediate support to schools in cases of critical incidents. The Programme commits to bring the total number of NEPS psychologists to 238 from the current sanctioned limit of 173.

NEPS psychologists are recruited via regional panels formed from national recruitment competitions administered by the Public Appointments Service (PAS). The panel which had existed in this regard had reached the end of its useful life and proved unable to answer the recruitment needs from the viewpoint of ongoing staffing losses due to resignation or retirement or to bring the NEPS staffing complement up to its current limit of 173 w.t.e. It has now been closed.

A new national recruitment competition has been put in place by PAS to fill vacancies within all NEPS Regions. The closing date for applications is now passed and work is currently ongoing in relation to the examination of applications and short-listing of candidates for interview. It is envisaged following interviews that recruitment panels will be formed and active filling of vacancies will commence in the new-year and to provide for expanded staffing provision countenanced in the Programme for Government as resources allow.