Thomas Pringle
Question:861. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs when a decision will be made on home tuition for a child (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7270/20]
View answerWednesday, 27 May 2020
Questions (861)
Written answers
The Department of Children and Youth Affairs does not operate a home tuition scheme for pre-school children.
The Department funds the ECCE preschool programme for children in the two years prior to school entry. To support children's inclusion in the ECCE programme, the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) has since 2016 provided a range of supports for access and meaningful participation of children with disabilities. An increasing number of children with disabilities, including children with complex needs, have attended their local pre-school with the supports provided through AIM.
The AIM supports include a pilot (introduced in 2019) of nursing support and healthcare assistance for children with complex healthcare needs. This pilot measure is supporting a number of children in receipt of a paediatric home care package through the HSE to benefit also from nursing or healthcare assistance to permit their participation in the ECCE programme in a mainstream preschool setting.
In addition to the AIM supports in mainstream pre-schools, a small number of children with complex needs attend HSE-funded specialist pre-schools run by a number of agencies. The Donegal County Childcare Committee may be able to assist the family referred to by the Deputy in identifying potential pre-school options in the local area, and can be contacted on Tel: 074 91 23442 or by email at info@donegalchildcare.com .