Irish schools had one of the worst ratios of psychologists to pupils in Europe, Fine Gael education spokesman Brian Hayes claimed.
"Is there any wonder why we continue to hear about the appalling tragedies of young lives lost, broken or even ended because there is no psychological intervention? Having a proper psychological service is not a luxury, it is a basic necessity in modern education and the catch-up under way in Irish education leaves a lot to be desired."
During a debate in Private Members' time, over Tuesday and last night, Mr Hayes said there were approximately 185,000 school-age children with disabilities and special educational needs in Ireland, including about 86,000 with mental health difficulties, 63,000 with specific learning disabilities and 5,000 with autistic spectrum disorders.
"Twenty-three schoolgoing children died by suicide last year, yet the Government has repeatedly broken its promise to provide an adequate psychological assessment service for our schools."
Minister for Education Mary Hanafin said since 2005, most primary schoolchildren with special needs did not need assessments to access supports. However, she said all schools now had access to assessments, either directly through the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) or the Dublin VECs, or by commissioning them from private psychologists whose fees would be paid by NEPS.
