Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. The recent increase is welcome. Is there any possibility or are there plans for AIM to be expanded outside of the ECCE programme for the younger cohort? This comes on the back of a visit I made to a family resource centre which I believe the Minister also visited in Limerick, namely, the King's Island facility. It has a high level of demand for the AIM programme. What often happens is parents can access AIM through the ECCE programme yet the child may be in full day care. This means that people do not then understand if it is said to one child that he or she cannot access the full day. It is not that it is stated that they cannot, but it is very difficult for them if they do not have that AIM support. There are not very many autism spectrum disorder, ASD, preschools throughout the country. When expanding AIM beyond just the ECCE programme, might it be possible to consider supporting those children?

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