Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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221. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will accommodate the extra preschool year in full in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11129/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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In Budget 2016, my Department announced a significant expansion to pre-school provision under the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. This measure, which will be introduced from September 2016, means that children will be eligible to start free pre-school when they reach the age of 3, and continue to avail of free pre-school until they start primary school (once the child is not older than 5½ years at the end of the pre-school year i.e. end June). Following the introduction of the expanded programme there will be three opportunities each year - in September, January and April - for eligible children to enrol for the free pre-school provision. This will ensure that children aged 3 or over have the opportunity to enrol as soon as possible after their third birthday.

The expansion of the ECCE programme will see the number of children benefitting from the Programme rise from around 67,000 to around 127,000 in a given programme year. For the 2016/17 programme year, it is estimated that 89,500 children will be eligible to enrol in the Programme from September 2016, an additional 22,000 from January 2017 and a further 15,500 from April 2017.

My Department made detailed information available to the City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs), including Kildare CCC, at the beginning of this year indicating the number of children, by every electoral division across the country, who would be eligible for an ECCE place in September 2016, January 2017 and April 2017. My Department continues to work closely with the City and County Childcare Committees to match this data against their reported capacity in the sector to meet the increase in demand. This exercise is almost complete. Where any capacity issues are found, I will be asking the relevant City / County Childcare Committee to work intensively with my Department to resolve the issue.

The Department announced earlier this year the introduction of an Early Years Capital Programme 2016 with total funding of €4 million available. This funding was targeted at early years pre-school providers that are making alterations to their services to accommodate the increased numbers of children eligible for the free pre-school provision following the decision to expand the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. The maximum grant available under this programme is €10,000. The closing date for applications was 8 April, 2016.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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222. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the status of an application under the early years capital grant 2016 (details supplied) including when she will make a decision on it; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11014/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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Capital funding of €4 million is being made available through the Early Years Capital Programme in 2016 for early years pre-school services, both private and not-for-profit/community, that are intending to expand their service to provide for more capacity in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. The maximum grant available under this programme is €10,000. The closing date for applications was 8 April, 2016.

Pobal is responsible for the administration of this funding scheme on behalf of my Department. I have been advised by Pobal that an appraisal process is underway and that recommendations for approval of funding, in line with the published criteria, will be with my Department by early June. The award of funding will be based partially on evidence of current need and/or projected future demand for additional ECCE places in 2016/2017 in the catchment area of each applying service. The relevant City/County Childcare Committee will assist Pobal with demand versus supply data. Value for money is also an awarding criteria and the costs-grant requested relative to the number of ECCE places being created will be taken into account when evaluating grant applications.

I have been advised by Pobal that an application from Doodlebugs Creche & Montessori has been received and that it is currently in the appraisal process.

Grant agreements will be issued to successful applicants in July 2016. The date by which a service's grant and own funds must be fully spent and reported to Pobal is 31st December 2016.

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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223. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the funding available for the provision of special needs assistants under the early childhood care and education scheme for the upcoming term beginning in September, 2016; the number of additional posts that have been funded; the timeframe for recruitment of the posts; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11047/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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In November 2015, a new model for supporting children with a disability to access the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme was launched. The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) is a cross-Government initiative, led by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, and involving the Department of Health, the Department of Education and Skills and others. The model will deliver seven levels of progressive support, moving from the universal to the targeted, to enable the full inclusion and meaningful participation of children with disabilities in the ECCE programme. These are:

Level 1 -An Inclusive Culture: includes training dedicated Inclusion Co-ordinators in pre-schools, and a small capitation increase for particular childcare services to support fully inclusive practice;

Level 2 - Information for Parents and Providers:includes development of a national website and information packs for parents and providers;

Level 3 - A Qualified and Confident Workforce:resourcing formal and informal training for early years practitioners to support more inclusive provision;

Level 4 - Expert Educational Advice & Support:enhancing the Better Start Early Years Specialist Service so that practitioners have prompt access to advice and support from experts in early years education for children with disabilities;

Level 5 - Equipment, Appliances and Minor Alterations:the provision of specialised equipment, appliances or capital grants towards the cost of minor building alterations so that children with disabilities can participate in pre-school;

Level 6 - Therapeutic Intervention:additional resources to enable access to HSE therapeutic services, where these are needed to allow a child enrol, and fully participate in, pre-school.

Level 7 - Additional Assistance:where the supports available at levels 1-6 are not sufficient to meet a child’s needs, additional capitation can be made available to childcare providers to support the pre-school leader to ensure children’s full participation. This could include, for example, buying in additional support, or, in particular circumstances, reducing the staff:child ratio.

Work is well advanced across many elements of the model with a view to introducing the initiative from September 2016. It is intended that service providers and parents will be able to submit applications for supports under the new model from June 2016 onwards to allow them to plan for pre-school enrolment in September 2016 and to ensure that children will begin to benefit from these measures from that point forward.

Funding of €14.35 million has been provided by my Department for the implementation of the scheme in 2016. The model will build incrementally over a number of years with full implementation costs in 2020 estimated at almost €40 million.

Finally, the Deputy has asked specifically about funding for the provision of Special Needs Assistants. The model does not involve the provision of special needs assistants and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs does not fund such services. The HSE does, on an ad hoc basis, make some supports available and it is expected that these arrangements will continue until the new model has been established.