Dublin South West TD, Seán Crowe, has described new information coming from the Department of Education, that 544 schools across the State do not have access to psychologists from the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) to carry out assessments of need, as shameful.

The Sinn Féin TD said that the lack of formal psychological assessments was holding back vulnerable children in terms of supports and development.

Teachta Seán Crowe said:

“I have consistently highlighted the need for additional resources for NEPS and these latest figures released by the Department of Education reveal wide gaps in terms of access in the current system.

“321 schools have no NEPS psychologist available, supposedly due to staffing vacancies, while a further 223 schools do not have access to NEPS psychologist because of temporary leave arrangements. This is not acceptable on any level and vulnerable children are clearly the victims of these gaps in services.

“Schools that currently do not have an assigned psychologist are severely disadvantaged in terms of delays to assessments for special education needs or behavioural difficulties in their pupils.

“Only having limited access to psychological supports and counselling for children when a crisis might erupt also causes major difficulties for the pupil, the classroom, teaching staff, and the running of a school.

“It is extremely frustrating for a parent to know that their child has problems and special needs in school, only then to be told that there is a long waiting list before they can even be considered for supports.

“The current system puts a lot of emphasis on gaining a diagnosis in order to access supports, but even if the child does not meet any specific diagnosis, a good assessment can provide a clear outline of his or her strengths and weaknesses.”

Crowe continued:

“As a public representative I know only too well the frustration felt by parents while they wait for   an assessment for their child.  The daily reality for many school principals is having to scour through a list of private psychologists in order to secure an assessment as  the current system isn’t working.

“The number of referrals for assessment is also limited per school, so many parents out of desperation are forced to fork out large sums to pay privately for an assessment to be carried out on their child to fast track supports. Not every parent is in a position to invest in this private service so many are forced to wait until they eventually get access to NEPS psychologists.  The time for this can vary and is dependent in many cases on where the school is located.

“So the area and the financial wherewithal of a parent can mean the difference in a child receiving an assessment and the follow up supports and resource hours.

“This is another example of the lack of equality and the two tier nature of Ireland’s education system.

“The Government has failed to provide any additional supports to NEPS in the most recent budget and there is a genuine fear among stakeholders that the new resource allocation model for special education will pave the way for the elimination of educational assessments altogether.”

ENDS