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Early Childhood Care and Education Programmes

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 November 2017

Tuesday, 28 November 2017

Ceisteanna (40)

Anne Rabbitte

Ceist:

40. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she is satisfied that each child in need of support under the access and inclusion model is able to access this support in a timely and appropriate manner; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50579/17]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí ó Béal (6 píosaí cainte)

Is the Minister satisfied with respect to the timely aspect in which the access and inclusion model is accessible by parents and child care providers? I would like her to make a statement on that matter.

We have made good progress in implementing the access and inclusion model, AIM, which helps children with disabilities to reap the full benefits of free preschool education. Its goal is to empower preschool providers to deliver an inclusive preschool experience. As the Deputy is aware, AIM is a child-centred model that involves seven levels of progressive support, moving from the universal to the targeted. It is based on the needs of the child and the preschool setting. Since the introduction of AIM in June 2016, it has enhanced free preschool education for all children, particularly children with a disability. When a preschool provider, in conjunction with a parent, considers that additional support is needed for a child with a disability, an application can be made via Pobal for a suite of targeted supports. These supports involve access to mentoring from a team of dedicated early years specialists at level four; access to specialised equipment, appliances and minor alteration grants at level five; access to therapeutic services at level six; and access to additional capitation to facilitate lower adult to child ratios at level seven.

An application for support at levels four, six or seven is generally responded to by an early years specialist within two to three days. This is followed by an observation visit, which generally takes place within two to four weeks, depending on the availability of the preschool provider and the attendance pattern of the child. An application for support at level six is referred to the HSE within days of the observation visit. An application for support at level seven is generally appraised within two to five weeks. The application process for support at level five, which involves equipment and alterations, is separate. The appraisal process for such applications is usually completed within two weeks and equipment or appliances are delivered within four to 12 weeks, depending on availability and supplier delivery terms for the items required. In the current preschool year, more than 3,000 applications have been approved for targeted AIM supports. There has been one appeal on the decisions. This suggests that access to the model is good.

I thank the Minister for her response. I tabled this question because I recently met a woman who has been trying to get her child, who has a disability, into a preschool service. Even though she lives just outside Portumna, the only preschool service she can get for her child is near Limerick. When I got to the bones of it, I discovered that some child care providers do not look on this project favourably because, frustratingly, it takes 50 working days, or ten weeks, for the whole assessment to be put through. One of the first announcements made by the Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, involved the provision of €40 million for the project. There are 1,900 trained link workers and I reckon that a further 900 such staff are in training. I discovered earlier in response to a question that 120,000 children are availing of the early childhood care and education scheme. Has the Minister considered that Pobal could do the applications and the training during the summer? This would enable child care providers to have their systems up and running when services resume on 1 September.

The Deputy has identified a particular case. We are speaking specifically about the AIM programme, which has had huge take-up. As I identified in my initial response, there has been just one appeal of a case of refusal in that regard. I can say in response to another one of the Deputy's supplementary questions that I have tried to identify specific timeframes for our responses at each level. I think a pretty strong and sustainable structure is being developed. When I get emails from people from time to time who are concerned that they cannot access AIM applications or crèches in their localities that will take their children under the AIM programme, I immediately send such messages to my Department to ensure such cases receive attention as quickly as possible with a view to resolving the issues involved.

I hear exactly what the Minister is saying to me. I do not want to trivialise the situation. While the AIM model provides for absolutely fantastic interventions and wholeheartedly inclusive groupings, it is not working in the sense that it takes 50 days, or ten weeks, for applications to go through. It is a boundary for child care providers who are looking to put systems in place so they can work wholeheartedly as part of an early intervention mechanism. When child care providers take in children on 1 September every year, they need to know they will get the supports they need in a timely manner. However, it can take up to ten weeks, which restricts them when they are considering the possibility of taking in certain children. I am identifying an issue that might be discouraging expansion in the child care sector or deterring people from taking up child care services. Last year, 2,443 children benefitted from level four supports and 1,431 children benefitted from level seven supports. There has been a decrease this year, unfortunately, perhaps as a result of the ten-week waiting lists. Some 301 children have benefitted to date in 2017, which means that 1,272 fewer children are in the system this year. I wonder whether the timeframe is the reason for this.

The good questions raised by the Deputy do not take away from the facts I have identified with regard to the timeframes that apply under the various AIM levels. I will bring back to my officials the Deputy's suggestion regarding the initiation of access to AIM in circumstances in which the direction that needs to be taken is known. I will be happy to take that back as a recommendation. Maybe some of the numbers have reduced for the reasons suggested by the Deputy. I have identified that the turnaround times which apply to the levels at which the applications are coming through are very efficient. As this is just the second year of the roll-out of the AIM model itself, it is open to improvement. We will take the Deputy's recommendation on board.

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