Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am very pleased with the progress made to date in implementing the access and inclusion model, AIM. To date, 1,820 children with a disability have benefited from the supports it provides and this number will grow over time. AIM is a child-centred model, involving seven levels of progressive support to enable the full inclusion and meaningful participation of children with disabilities in the early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme.

Since AIM was launched in June 2016, all universal elements of the model levels one to three have been implemented in line with project timelines. Specifically, a new higher education programme for leadership for inclusion in early years settings, known as LINC, has been launched with provision for 900 students annually for four years. The first intake of 900 students commenced the LINC programme in September 2016 and applications have been invited for the next intake of 900 students to commence in September 2017. In addition to this, an inclusion charter and updated diversity, equality and inclusion guidelines have been published and a national programme of training supports is being rolled out.

All the targeted elements of AIM, levels four to seven, are also fully operational. At level four, 50 early years inclusion specialists have been appointed and the special mentoring support service has been rolled out. I recently approved an additional 18 posts for this service.

At level five, a national scheme for the provision of specialised equipment, appliances and minor alterations has been developed and rolled out. At level six, 50 additional HSE therapists have been appointed to support the delivery of the necessary therapy services, and at level seven, a national scheme for the provision of additional capitation to support additional assistance in the ECCE setting has also been developed and rolled out. The funding allocation for AIM in 2017 is €32.42 million.

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