Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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125. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will develop a nationwide scheme for equal access for children with special needs to the early childhood care and education scheme, which provides a free year of childhood care and education for children of preschool age; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7737/15]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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At the risk of repeating what has just been said, will the Minister consider developing a nationwide scheme to provide equal access for children with special needs? The early childhood care and education scheme currently provides a free preschool year of childhood care for all children, including children with special needs. This can be divided over two years, with six hours per week in the first year and nine hours per week in the following year, or it can be availed of in one year. It is free to all parents, but there is no extra allocation of funding to support children with special needs. Will the Minister address that?

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme provides one free preschool year to qualifying children before they commence primary school. The ECCE programme is a free and universal programme to which all children, including those children with special needs, have access.

The issue of access to the free preschool year for children with special needs was taken into account when the free preschool year was launched, and a number of measures were introduced to make the programme more accessible for those children. The measures include an exemption from the upper age limit for qualification under the programme where a child is developmentally delayed and would benefit from starting primary school at a later age. In addition, children with special needs can apply to have the preschool year split over two years on a pro ratabasis - for example, by availing of the programme for two days a week in the first year and for three days a week in the second year - if that would be in the child's best interest.

The majority of children with special needs avail of the free preschool year in mainstream child care services. I am aware that the HSE, where possible, assists children with special needs who may require additional support to enable them to avail of preschool services in mainstream settings. I am also aware that the Deputy's native County Meath is particularly good in this regard.

My Department has been working with the Department of Health and the Department of Education and Skills to build better supports that will facilitate children who have special needs.

The aim is to develop an agreed framework for the provision of resources to support children with special needs in mainstream child care settings. I have established a high level interdepartmental group to examine the issue of future investment in early childhood care and education and child care for school-going children. As part of its work, the group will consider how best to make appropriate provision for children with special needs who are accessing mainstream child care services. I have asked the group to report to me by the summer. I will not pre-empt what the group might propose but clearly one of the issues I would like to see addressed is the lack of uniformity of approach in different parts of the country.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his response. As he has mentioned, we are extremely lucky in County Meath because a source of funding is provided through the HSE's disability sector. This helps with the assistance of children who are attending preschool years. This is something our county has decided to do and many parents and teachers are grateful for it. The problem is that the funding is not definite. Every year it is subject to consideration. Every year budgets are tighter and every year more and more children are seeking to avail of these services. This puts a strain on the system and makes it more difficult to provide the right assistance. Further, the HSE feels it should not be funding these services.

We speak of inclusion of children with special needs at a mainstream level and in the community to ensure children feel part of their community. The Minister is a strong advocate of this. As he has mentioned, this is the first Government to have a dedicated Department with responsibility for children. I will stress what has been stressed by many Deputies in this House today. When the interdepartmental group is meeting and examining all aspects of education, early learning years in particular should be taken into account and serious consideration should be given to the introduction of a national scheme. It is important for children to get the help they need at an early stage, especially those with special needs. The HSE in County Meath can provide this funding for only so long. It also means that no other counties can provide it.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I am very concerned that this issue will be examined. The best context in which to look at it is the interdepartmental group. It is appropriate that the roles of the HSE and the Child and Family Agency in supporting families are considered when examining funding for special needs assistants for older school-going children. We are trying to support parents to come out of poverty. We want to lift their children out of poverty. We know the best way to do this is to support the family. The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the Department of Finance, the Department of Health and my Department are involved in this interdepartmental group as is, most importantly, the Department of Social Protection. This group has all the required membership to develop a coherent, properly analysed and properly priced Government approach. The Government, therefore, will be able to look realistically at the options and determine what it can afford to do during the current year and what it can afford to do the following year. We know if we do these things that we will get the results we seek.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the interdepartmental group. It is fantastic that the Departments are coming together. If funding is to come down the line, it would be a good idea to have the Departments work together on this and to avoid putting strain on any one particular Department. I look forward to hearing what comes out of this interdepartmental group, but the sooner the better for all involved.