Nessa Cosgrove (Labour)

I welcome the Minister and her team. It is great to have the opportunity to raise these issues. I will start with foster care and aftercare services. I worked in that sector in a commissioned service. The Minister said in her opening statement that aftercare services are for 16- to 21-year-olds and are extended to 23 for young people remaining in education settings. Is there any way that could be taken out of it so that they would not have to continue in education? Many young people get into homelessness when they leave aftercare. Aftercare is really important and a great support for young people leaving the care system. Would it be considered to extend the service to 23 regardless of training or education?

I turn to special emergency arrangements in special care. I worked in a commissioned service and found the creative community alternatives, CCA, programme is a fantastic initiative for keeping people out of care. Due to lack of multi-annual funding and short-term contracts for staff, it is often hard to recruit staff. Because it so focused and targeted, multi-annual funding should ensure staff would be recruited and remain in the sector.

On early years, I am delighted to hear of the introduction of public provision with State-led facilities. Could we get more details on that? Will it happen within school settings? Will community-led childcare provision be taken over?

It is fantastic the AIM programme is being extended to younger children. I know from meeting many parents of children with additional needs that school-age children are struggling in after-school. Could the programme be extended to services providing after-school or for school-age children? Could they get level 5 supports, which are physical adaptation supports? Most importantly, could they get level 7 funding so the staff-children ratio could go down? That has come up more and more. It is great for preschool and it is great it has been extended to younger than the ECCE programme but could it be extended to school-age children as well?

Sorry for throwing all these questions at the Minister but my next one is about the equal start programme. It is a fantastic initiative. It is really targeted. The Children's Rights Alliance report yesterday referred to 100,000 children living in consistent poverty. Equal start is a successful initiative. I know that from my community and from families I have worked with. Will it be extended, particularly where direct provision and IPAS centres have been opened? Particularly in rural areas where the facilities might not be there in the first place, those targeted measures would be fantastic to see when these services or facilities are being opened.

Providers of ECCE-only services, particularly small community-based providers, often feel overlooked and unable to compete with large chains and full daycare settings. Are any additional supports available in the core funding model for these ones that just provide ECCE services?

I thank the Minister for listening to all the questions.