Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I do not think I fully agree with the Senator's last comment but I understand the point he makes and I thank him for raising this matter. The issue of the participation of children with a disability in preschool is a cross-cutting issue involving a number of stakeholders including the Departments of Children and Youth Affairs, Education and Skills and the HSE. The free preschool year is provided through the Early Childhood Care and Education programme, ECCE, which is the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. The objective of this scheme is to make early learning in a formal setting available to eligible children in the year before they commence primary school. While the HSE has no statutory obligation to provide supports for children with special needs wishing to avail of the free preschool year, it works at local level and in partnership with the relevant disability service providers to address individual needs as they arise. This is done in a number of ways such as funding special preschools that cater specifically for children with disabilities.

In some limited cases, at local level, HSE disability services have also facilitated children with disabilities to attend mainstream preschools by providing funding for preschool assistant supports where possible and to which the Senator referred in his contribution. In this context, the HSE Meath disability service provides a preschool assistance subsidy in co-operation with Enable Ireland Meath early services. This subsidy assists towards the cost of obtaining a preschool assistant for a child with a disability. The subsidy is currently paid directly to the preschool as the employer. I am advised by the HSE that the current demand for this subsidy exceeds available resources. These arrangements should not be confused with special needs assistants for children in primary and secondary schools, who are the responsibility of the Department of Education and Skills.

The HSE is obliged to review continually all its existing funding arrangements in order to ensure that services are provided within available resources. The HSE Meath disability service has confirmed that it is committed to continued funding of this subsidy for the academic year 2015-16 from within its approved budget. The overall budget allocation for 2015 is under consideration. The HSE has also stated that it will be necessary to review how these support hours are allocated in order to ensure that resources are used to best effect and on the basis of need.

The HSE is currently involved in a major reconfiguration of its therapy resources for children and young people with disabilities as part of its national programme on progressing disability services for children and young people, aged up to 18 years. This programme, when fully implemented, should mean greater equity in accessing therapy services, based on need, clearer referral pathways and improved collaboration between the sectors. An additional €4 million, equating to approximately 80 additional therapy posts, was specifically allocated in 2014 to drive implementation of the programme. A further additional investment of €4 million will be made in the programme in 2015. This equates to €6 million in a full year.

This programme is already well advanced in Meath. In addition, a dedicated cross-sectoral team, comprising representatives of my Department, the HSE, the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, is in place to strengthen cross-sectoral working on children's disability issues. A subgroup of this cross-sectoral team is examining the issue of the integration of children with disabilities into mainstream preschool settings, including supports for these children. It is expected to conclude its work in the coming weeks. I hope this information is of benefit to the Senator.