School principals and teachers reacted with shock last night to an admission by the Department of Education and Science that it cannot afford to hire any more psychologists this year. Nor can it hire any in 2004 if budgetary constraints continue.
The Irish Times has also learned that in some of the worst cases, primary and secondary schools are paying for psychologists out of their own funds.
The Department has denied that it misled the Comptroller & Auditor General when it stated that only 29 per cent of schools in the mid-west had psychological services because no one eligible wanted to work there.
At least one psychologist who did was interviewed last January, was approved and placed on the hiring panel. The psychologist was then told, on September 24th, that the Department of Education and Science had ceased hiring psychologists because of budgetary constraints.
The crisis in psychological services means there is an average waiting list of two years for children with emotional, behavioural or educational problems.
Principals will find it impossible to operate secondary schools, said Mr George O'Callaghan of the Joint Managerial Body. In cases of emotional disturbance, suspension and expulsion they will have not psychological expertise to consult.
The hiring embargo will make it impossible to implement the Persons with Disabilities Bill and to deal with children with special needs in mainstream education, said Mr Sean Cotterell of the Irish Primary Principals Network.
Mr John Carr, director general of the INTO, said: "It is far worse in the mid-west where, for example, less than one-third of pupils are included in the scheme. The Government has an obligation to meet children's special educational needs no matter what part of the country they live in."
"You cannot put a price on the successful education of a child and you cannot put a price on the successful integration of a child with special needs in a mainstream school," Mr Cotterell said.
"This decision seems to suggest that the schools can continue without the necessary psychological expertise, even when dealing with the most difficult cases," said Mr O'Callaghan.
It was essential that every school have the resources to diagnose problems and formulate educational plans for every child with an educational or emotional problem, Mr Cotterell said.