Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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149. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the estimated cost of providing 15 hours per week special needs assistant support to 1,000 children with disabilities, to enable them to participate in the early childhood and care education scheme. [25496/15]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The ECCE Programme is a free and universal programme for all children, including children with special needs. Approximately 65,000 children are participating in this Programme in the current school year.

The issue of access to the free pre-school year for children with special needs was considered when the ECCE Programme was launched and a number of measures were introduced by my Department to make the Programme more accessible for these children. These include an exemption from the upper age limit where a child would benefit from starting primary school at a later age. In addition, children with special needs can apply to have the pre-school year split over two years on a pro-rata basis, for example availing of the programme for 2 days a week in the first year and for 3 days a week in the second year.

In addition, while the Health Service Executive has no statutory obligation to provide assistant supports for children with special needs wishing to avail of the free pre-school year, it does work at local level and in partnership with the relevant disability service providers to address individual needs as they arise. This is done, for example, by funding special pre-schools that cater specifically for children with disabilities. In some limited cases at local level, disability services have also facilitated children with disabilities in some instances to attend mainstream pre-schools by providing assistant supports where possible and subject to resources.

This Government recognises however, that co-ordination and provision of appropriate supports for pre-school children with special needs could be improved. Accordingly, when I established the Inter-Departmental Group on Future Investment in Early Years and School Age Care and Education, I included in its terms of reference the need to examine how best to provide for children with special needs within the ECCE Programme.

To advance this, the Departments of Children and Youth Affairs, Education and Skills, and Health have agreed to work together to develop a new model of supports for pre-school children with special needs. My Department is leading the process, with full and active support from the other two Departments and their respective agencies.

A group comprising representatives from these three Departments, the HSE, Tusla, the National Council for Special Education, the National Disability Authority, Better Start and the Dublin City Childcare Committee has started its work. This Group aims to have an agreed model by early September, with a view to making a cross-departmentally supported proposal for the resources required in time for the Estimates process.

It is likely that the option and associated cost of providing children with 15 hours of special needs support to allow them to participate in the ECCE Programme will be one of a number of models that will be considered and costed by the Group as part of its work.