Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 October 2019
225. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the funding that will be provided to afterschool providers under the national childcare scheme to pay for the inclusion of support workers such as special needs assistants to safely meet the needs of young children with a disability and or autism that attend an afterschool service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42417/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department does not currently provide such supports. The Deputy may be aware that AIM - the Access and Inclusion Model - provides both universal and targeted supports for the meaningful participation of children with disabilities in the ECCE pre-school programme. AIM is a child-centred model, involving seven levels of progressive support, moving from the universal to the targeted, based on the needs of the child and the preschool service. It offers tailored, practical supports based on need and does not require a formal diagnosis.
The third year of AIM's operation has just ended, and work on a 3-year evaluation of AIM has begun. The Government made a commitment in First 5 to consider enhancements to, or extension of, AIM to other groups of children. Such an extension might involve younger children (such as under-3s) or children attending school-age childcare services, or it might involve children with additional needs other than a disability. However, any decisions on extension or reform of AIM will depend on the findings of the 3-year evaluation, other relevant developments, and the securing of necessary resources.
The Deputy may also be interested to know that on 21st May I launched a public consultation on the future regulation and quality standards for school-age childcare, and this consultation ended on the 5th of July. The consultation included an open call for submissions, an online survey, a focus group session with school-age service providers, and an Open Policy Debate with a wide range of stakeholders. The consultation has provided rich information for consideration by my Department, and the findings may provide additional input into consideration of future supports for accessing school-age childcare. A comprehensive report of the findings from the public consultation is currently being compiled.
