Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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337. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the recruitment of a new National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, psychologist for assignment to a school (details supplied). [19745/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy may be aware my Department’s National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides an educational psychological service to schools through the direct assignment of a NEPS psychologist and in some cases through by providing schools access to the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA) where 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 psychologists are recruited via regional panels formed from national recruitment competitions administered by the Public Appointments Service (PAS). A new national recruitment competition was undertaken in late 2016 to fill any existing vacancies.

I can inform the Deputy that regional panels have now been formed following this process and PAS are currently engaged with prospective recruits to fill the remaining vacancies, including those in the Dublin Region. It is envisaged that these staff will be in place before the end of the current academic year.

In the interim, schools whose service from NEPS are the subject of such vacancies have been advised that they may access assessment services via the Scheme for the Commissioning of Psychological Assessments described above and that they will continue to be able to access advice and assistance in the event of a critical incident, from their local NEPS office.

My Department’s NEPS service will continue to communicate developments in this regard to the schools involved.