Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 31 May 2022
495. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he or his Department have considered extending the Access and Inclusion Model Programme to children of school-going age who require childcare in after school settings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27384/22]
View answerThe Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), which was launched in June 2016, is a model of supports designed to ensure that children with disabilities can access the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. Its goal is to empower pre-school providers to deliver an inclusive pre-school experience, ensuring that every eligible child can meaningfully participate in the ECCE programme and reap the benefits of quality early learning and care.
One of the commitments in First 5, A Government Strategy for Babies and Children, was to undertake an end of Three-Year Evaluation of AIM. That evaluation has been undertaken and the draft report has been reviewed by the Cross Sectoral Implementation Group (CSIG), with the final report due to be published in Q3 of this year.
Subject to evaluation findings and other relevant developments, we will be considering potential enhancements to, and/or extensions of AIM including expanding to children of school-going age who require childcare in after school.
