Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 256: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the rights of children with disabilities to attend preschool and to have a special needs assistant if one is required; if a child (details supplied) in County Limerick will be allocated a special needs assistant in order that they will have the equivalent access to preschool education as other children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6644/10]

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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All pre-school services are required to make reasonable accommodation for children with special needs, as required under the Equal Status Acts 2000 to 2004. The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) scheme, which was introduced in January this year, and provides for a free pre-school year for all eligible children in the year prior to commencing primary school, includes a number of provisions specifically intended to assist children with special needs. One of these is that, while the age range in which children qualify for the scheme is, generally, between 3 years 3 months and 4 years 6 months in September of the relevant year, exceptions are allowed where a child has been assessed as having a special need which will delay his or her entry to primary school. In such cases, the pre-school year relevant to such children will be taken as their qualifying year.

Additionally, the general requirement under the ECCE scheme that a child would be expected to attend 4 or 5 days each week will not apply to children with special needs where a shorter week would be more appropriate to their needs. Many specialist pre-school services arrange for children attending their services to also attend a mainstream service for 1, 2 or 3 days a week. As a result, 1 full week place in the mainstream service could cater for 2 or more children with special needs on a pro-rata basis. Where appropriate, children with special needs attending a mainstream pre-school service on a pro-rata basis can avail of a second free pre-school year. Should additional flexibility in the arrangements for the scheme be required by specialist pre-school services for children with special needs, these will also be considered.

As the Deputy's question also relates to service matters, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.