IMPACT’s National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) branch has called for the immediate recruitment of at least 94 psychologists. The union is also seeking a further Government commitment to recruit 17 more to meet increased serviced over the coming years.
The union organised a special briefing for Oireachtas members and education partners in Dublin last Wednesday (7th December). The briefing was attended by a number of TDs and senators, including the Minister of State for Disability Issues Finian McGrath TD.
IMPACT official Tony Martin said that NEPS has provided a quality service to schools nationally since 1999, but had been subject to restructuring and restrictions on recruitment since 2008. “The education commitments outlined in the Programme for Government, including the commitment to increase the number of NEPS by 25%, have been welcomed by all who work in our education services. It is now vital that this commitment is implemented in order to ensure the service can meet the needs of a growing school population.
Educational psychologist Richard Egan said the union branch had produced a report in 2015, The Way Forward: A School Psychological Service for ALL Children and Young People, to outline the need for increased investment. “Ireland ranks 26th in the world in terms of the pupil-to-psychologist ratio of its educational psychology service, while one in four Irish pupils have special educational needs, and up to one in five are experiencing emotional or behavioural disorders.
“Based on current demographics, a total of 250 psychologists is needed to achieve the internationally accepted psychologist-to-student ratio of 1:3,500. Based on current projections, this figure would have risen to 267 psychologists by 2021. These figures do not include the additional 20 to 30 psychologists needed to provide a service in the early years and Youthreach settings,” he said.
Educational psychologist Sorcha O’Toole said the additional recruitment is vital in order to build capacity and ensure the service was in a position to respond to the needs of vulnerable children in need of support. “We are at an important crossroads now where the Government is planning the delivery of services in a post-crisis environment. Both the programme for government and the education statement of strategy and action plan commit to increase NEPS by 65 psychologists, to a total of 238 full-time equivalence,” she said.
Ms O’Toole added: “The commitments to expanding the NEPS service contained in the programme for government are a welcome and progressive measure. Our concern is that the process of implementation isn’t allowed to stall at this crucial stage. While this commitment was recently reiterated by the education minister in the Dáil, he stated that the current sanction remained capped at 173,” she said.
