Michael Healy-Rae
Question:675. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the position regarding inclusion and support grants (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30520/15]
View answerTuesday, 22 September 2015
Questions (675)
Written answers
Various practical efforts have been made in recent years by my Department and others, including the HSE, to support mainstreamed pre-school provision for children with special needs. These include: more flexible rules regarding access to the free pre-school year, the provision on a limited ad hoc basis by the HSE of funding towards the cost of pre-school support assistants in some areas, elective modules on special needs in mandatory courses for early years practitioners, and various initiatives by City and County Childcare Committees, HSE/HSE funded services, and by Better Start’s Early Years Specialist Service to support providers who need expert advice and guidance. In addition, the on-going reorganisation of disability therapy services into multi-disciplinary geographic-based teams by the HSE under the Progressing Disability Services for Children and Young People Programme and the early intervention and support that reconfigured teams provide are of importance in the context of mainstreaming.
Nevertheless, this Government recognises that co-ordination and provision of appropriate pre-school supports for children with special needs could be improved. Accordingly, when I established the Inter-Departmental Group on Future Investment in Early Years and School Age Care and Education, I included in its terms of reference the need to examine how best to provide for children with special needs within mainstream pre-school settings.
To advance this, the Departments of Children and Youth Affairs, Education and Skills, and Health are working together to develop a new model of pre-school supports for children with special needs. My Department is leading the process, with full and active support from the other two Departments and their respective agencies.
An Inter-Departmental Group comprising representatives from these three Departments, the HSE, Tusla, the National Council for Special Education, the National Disability Authority, Better Start and the Dublin City Childcare Committee has identified a range of pre-school supports for children with additional needs - some of which are similar to the supports outlined by the Early Childhood Ireland 'Footsteps for the Future' report. This Group is now expected to make a cross-departmentally supported proposal for the resources required in time for the Estimates process.