Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her response. The confirmation in respect of the supports is welcome but the core of the question refers to the status of the implementation. I tabled this question on supports for children with additional needs entering the free preschool year because there has been a massive information vacuum for both providers of these services and parents. Mums and dads anxious about the situation have been coming to or ringing me about the place in September for their child in Meath and elsewhere and whether the centres have the trained staff to take the child in September. In light of her response, will the Minister highlight how the Department expects to have the staff, some 4,000 in total, in these private early years centres fully trained so that they can provide the required support for children with additional needs? Does her Department expect every centre to have the trained staff in place in September? If not, can providers still avail of the additional two-year per child capitation funding which has been allocated to the centres, pitiful as it is, to provide children with additional needs access to the free preschool year?

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