Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 19 October 2022
165. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of AIM supported childcare positions available in County Tipperary together; the location of all AIM supported childcare services in County Tipperary; the supports that are available to a child with special needs who cannot access childcare services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52320/22]
View answerThe goal of the Access and Inclusion Model 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 high quality early learning and care.
AIM supports are grouped into universal or targeted. Universal supports are designed to create a more inclusive culture in early learning and care settings, through training courses and qualifications for staff. Where universal supports are not enough to meet the needs of an individual child, targeted supports are available to ensure the child can meaningfully participate in pre-school.
AIM Level 7 provides additional funding to pre-schools who have a child requiring extra support and it is to this I presume the Deputy is referring. Providers can use this funding either to reduce the adult-to-child ratio in the pre-school room or to fund an extra staff member as a shared resource with other children in the ECCE setting. This is all centered on supporting the pre-school leader to ensure the child’s optimal participation.
As of 14 October 2022, there are 148 approved level 7 capitations in Co. Tipperary. There could be one child or several children assigned to a capitation and a child can be in two capitations. Capitations will change throughout the programme call based on a number of factors such as, children withdrawing from a session, increases / decreases in a child’s days or hours, delays in implementation of support or if a child has a prolonged absence (over 4-6 weeks).
If parents are experiencing a difficulty in finding a place in an early learning and care or school-age childcare setting they can contact their local City /County Childcare Committee (contact details at https://myccc.ie/) who will try to assist them in finding a suitable place.
The table below shows the location of AIM supported childcare services in Co. Tipperary. It should be noted that these are services with children requiring such supports currently. All registered services providing ECCE can avail of AIM supports.
|
Location |
Number of Services |
|
Newport |
3 |
|
Ballina |
1 |
|
Roscrea |
5 |
|
Thurles |
14 |
|
Nenagh |
13 |
|
Toomevara |
1 |
|
Cloughjordan |
1 |
|
Cahir |
2 |
|
Carrik On Suir |
5 |
|
Clonmel |
13 |
|
Knockanrawley |
1 |
|
Fethard |
1 |
|
Aherlow |
1 |
|
Tipperary Town |
1 |
|
Drangan |
1 |
|
Cashel |
6 |
|
Cappawhite |
1 |
|
Monard |
2 |
|
Oola |
1 |
|
Borrisokane |
2 |
|
Bansha |
1 |
|
Emly |
1 |
|
Dundrum |
1 |
|
Kilfeacle |
1 |
|
Donaskeagh |
1 |
|
Templemore |
1 |
