Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 February 2023
231. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he intends to expand the ECCE services to include children with additional needs in preschool-age classes; the engagement he has had with the Department of Education; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6415/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department has made extensive provision to support children with additional needs in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme.
The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), which is a model of supports designed to ensure that children with disabilities can access ECCE. 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 high quality early learning and care. AIM is based on the needs of the child in the context of the pre-school setting. It does not require any diagnosis, recognising that many children do not have a diagnosis of a disability when starting pre-school.
AIM has seven levels of progressive support. Universal supports (levels 1-3) empower early learning and care providers to create a more inclusive culture in their setting through an Inclusion Charter and Guidelines for pre-schools, and a level 6 qualification in Leadership for Inclusion (LINC).
Targeted supports (levels 4-7) are based on the needs of the child and the pre-school setting they are attending. These supports include expert early years educational advice from Better Start Early Years Specialists, capital grants for special equipment and/or minor alterations for pre-school settings, and therapy supports. AIM level 7 support provides additional funding to pre-schools who have a child requiring extra support. Providers can use this funding either to reduce the child-to-adult ratio in the pre-school room or to fund an extra staff member as a shared resource with other children in the ECCE setting.
One of the commitments within First 5, a Government Strategy for Babies and Children, was to undertake an end-of-year-three evaluation of AIM. That evaluation has now been completed, with the final report due to be published later this year. Subject to evaluation findings and other relevant developments, Department officials will be considering enhancements to, and/or expansion of AIM to, for example, all ELC services and/or to children outside of the eligible age range for the ECCE programme.
