Written answers
Thursday, 20 November 2025
Department of Education and Skills
School Staff
Ryan O'Meara (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail)
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430. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the provisions her Department is putting in place for schools to pay part-time staff such as SNAs, secretaries and caretakers for attendance at whole-day mandatory child protection training; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64932/25]
Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Child protection training is mandatory. All school staff who are employed directly by the school should, where possible, attend the child protection whole school training, this includes caretakers, secretaries, bus escorts, SNAs and teachers. It is the responsibility of boards of management to ensure that all school personnel attend appropriate child protection training and retain a record of this training.
Staff who are unable to attend the whole school training, will be provided with an opportunity to attend training, which may be online. Schools may wish to make their own arrangements for staff to attend training outside of their normal scheduled hours.
Where a staff member is unable to attend, absences should be managed in line with a school’s absence management policy. Schools may consider using provisions such as the Croke Park Hours for teachers and the 72 Hours for SNAs (pro-rata for part-time SNAs), which may be used towards training and Continuous Professional Development.
Ryan O'Meara (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail)
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431. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the provision her Department is making to ensure that schools are fully staffed in situations where school staff on approved forms of leave for example, job share accrue an entitlement to time off in lieu as a result of attending mandatory child protection training; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64933/25]
Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Child protection training is mandatory. All school staff who are employed directly by the school should, where possible, attend the child protection whole school training, this includes caretakers, secretaries, bus escorts, SNAs and teachers. It is the responsibility of boards of management to ensure that all school personnel attend appropriate child protection training and retain a record of this training.
Staff who are unable to attend the whole school training, will be provided with an opportunity to attend training, which may be online. Schools may wish to make their own arrangements for staff to attend training outside of their normal scheduled hours.
Where a staff member is unable to attend, absences should be managed in line with a school’s absence management policy. Schools may consider using provisions such as the Croke Park Hours for teachers and the 72 Hours for SNAs (pro-rata for part-time SNAs), which may be used towards training and Continuous Professional Development.
Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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432. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of NEPS psychologists assigned to schools in Dublin mid-west. [64946/25]
Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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433. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of NEPS psychologist consultation sessions assigned to schools in Dublin mid-west in 2024, by school. [64947/25]
Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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434. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of NEPS psychologist consultation sessions delivered by private contractors in schools in Dublin mid-west. [64948/25]
Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 432, 433 and 434 together.
I thank the Deputy for his question on the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS). I would like to take this opportunity to outline the work of my department in this area more broadly and the role of NEPS. All schools have access to:
- General support and advice from a NEPS psychologist, either through the school’s assigned psychologist or through the NEPS Advisory Support Line. The NEPS Advisory Support line provides access for schools to support and advice from a Senior Educational Psychologist in NEPS via a designated phone line available from Monday to Friday.
- Support from a NEPS psychologist in the event of a Critical Incident.
- National and Regional Support and Development service for school staff, which is advertised through the Education Support Centres of Ireland and covers areas such as trauma informed practice, cluster group support for post-primary special education teachers and special class teachers, training for Student Support Teams and supporting reluctant school attendance/school avoidance behaviour.
- Access to either a NEPS psychologist or a SCPA psychologist for individual pupil casework where a priority need is established. SCPA – the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments - is operated through the use of a panel of psychologists who must meet qualification criteria set by the Department. It is an interim measure intended to supplement the NEPS service and meet current urgent needs for psychological assessment of children and young people.
With regard to staffing levels more generally, my department is making every effort to recruit additional educational psychologists. Since January 2023, NEPS has supported bursaries for Trainee Educational Psychologists who are enrolled in the University College Dublin Professional Doctorate in Educational Psychology and Mary Immaculate College Limerick’s Professional Doctorate in Educational and Child Psychology. This has also been extended to students enrolled in the new professional doctorate in educational psychology in Maynooth University. Those in receipt of a bursary commit to joining NEPS upon graduation. There are over 80 Trainee educational psychologists in receipt of a bursary who are expected to join NEPS upon graduation.
The Public Appointments Service recently concluded a recruitment campaign for Educational Psychologists and successful candidates will be appointed shortly.
On the Deputy’s question regarding assessments, I can advise that NEPS psychologists provide a casework service for approximately 9000 children per annum nationwide. The psychologists may work directly with a child or young person, known as Direct Casework and this includes assessment, or the psychologist may work through teachers or teachers/parents to provide a psychological service for a child/young person, known as Indirect Casework.
The focus of the NEPS service is on empowering teachers to intervene effectively with students whose needs range from mild to severe and transient to enduring. NEPS encourages schools to implement a Continuum of Support with each school taking responsibility for providing universal and preventative approaches, as well as early assessment, educational planning and intervention for students with additional needs.
A key part of this, as mentioned above, is the Support and Development work. The focus of the NEPS Support & Development Service is to help enhance school systems, to maximise a whole-school approach to creating school environments that are inclusive, flexible and responsive to the needs of all and to build school capability to provide evidence-informed prevention and early intervention support.
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