Kathleen Funchion
Question:1004. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated cost of increasing funding for the access inclusion model by 15%. [31668/21]
View answerTuesday, 15 June 2021
Questions (1004)
Written answers
The 2021 allocated budget for the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) is €48.33 million.
This funding covers the cost of the seven levels of AIM, which encompass a range of both universal and targeted measures. The majority of this funding, €29.5 million, is for Level 7 Additional Assistance. This Level 7 funding is intended to facilitate either the recruitment of additional staff or to compensate services for a reduction in the adult-to-child ratio in the pre-school room, supporting the meaningful participation of all children in the room in the ECCE universal pre-school programme.
A 15% increase in funding for the overall Access and Inclusion Model would cost an additional €7.25 million per annum, bringing the total budget allocation to €55.58 million per annum.