Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 October 2023
235. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will outline details of plans by his Department to broaden AIM's programme funding beyond the ECCE timetable. [45675/23]
View answerThe proportion of services accessing AIM has increased substantially since its establishment in 2016. Application volumes for all AIM funding were at their highest level by September 2023 than in September of previous years.
After 7 years in operation, AIM has had a major impact on the lives of children and on the quality of preschool provision. More than 27,000 children have received over 60,000 targeted supports in over 4,000 services nationally since the programme’s introduction in 2016, and the proportion of services that have a child with additional needs attending has increased by almost half.
First 5: A whole-of-Government strategy committed to extending AIM. This extension was to be informed by an end-of-year-3 evaluation, due to be published later this year. Participants in that evaluation - parents, educators and providers – unanimously supported an extension of targeted AIM supports to hours outside the ECCE programme.
As a first step, from September 2024, there will be an expansion of targeted AIM supports to children participating in ECCE beyond the programme hours, in term and out of term from next September.
The specific rules and approaches to this extension are currently being developed. Further details on how AIM will operate outside of the ECCE programme will be made available as the detailed design advances.
