Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 July 2023
263. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Education to provide details on the level of funding and supports which will be made available to current trainee educational psychologists; and if he will ensure that those supports will be equivalent to those in similar programmes such as a named example (details supplied). [33875/23]
View answerA working group in the Department has been examining the matter of how NEPS can continue to recruit adequate numbers of suitably qualified educational psychologist staff and continue to respond to the educational psychological needs of children in recognised primary and post-primary schools across the country.
To address supply issues in the medium to long term a workforce plan for educational psychologists is being developed within the Department of Education and work is progressing with other Government Departments, such as the Department of Health, to advance this.
As an immediate short-term measure my Department was delighted to introduce a bursary to support Trainee Educational Psychologists currently in their third year (or third year equivalent) of professional training in University College Dublin (UCD) and Mary Immaculate College (MIC), who expect to graduate in 2023.
Officials in my Department are now close to finalising funding supports for students of these doctorate programmes who would graduate in 2024, and 2025.
