The state has spent almost €10 million on private psychologist services in schools over the past eight years. A total of 30,000 private assessments were carried out over the period at a cost of more than €300 each. This is in addition to the services provided under the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS).

Schools who do not have NEPS psychologists assigned to them can avail of the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA),which was established in the 2001/02 academic year.