Maria Bailey (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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216. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of scheme for commissioning psychological assessments, SCPA, assessments completed for the academic year 2015-16 for which certification of completion of assessment forms have been submitted by school principals between 6 September 2015 and 30 September 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21906/17]

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.

Schools availing of the SCPA scheme arrange and schedule the assessment with the SCPA psychologist and the parents of the pupil concerned and, when completed, the Principal submits a form to NEPS certifying that the assessment has been satisfactorily conducted and the assessment report submitted to the school and parents according to the guidelines provided for the scheme. Based on this submission NEPS make the appropriate payment to the SCPA psychologist. In the period specified by the Deputy in her question some 1,914 payments were made based on forms returned by schools.