Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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31. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she is aware of the premature removal of funding by HSE Donegal for SEN grants for children with disabilities attending mainstream preschool education; and if she is further aware of the potential consequences of this removal of funding to the new access and inclusion model recently launched as a cross-departmental initiative between her Department, and the Departments of Education and Skills and Health; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22966/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I wish to inform the Deputy that I am aware of the issue of the alleged withdrawal of HSE supports for children with disabilities attending the Early Education and Care Programme in County Donegal.

My officials have been informed by the HSE this week that no services are being withdrawn and that the same amount of funding continues to be allocated to these supports. However, with the extension of the free preschool programme ( Early Childhood Care and Education Programme), many children are now availing of supports for a longer period of time i.e. they continue to retain the full HSE grant towards a Special Needs Assistant for a second year of free preschool. This can mean that there is less funding freed up to support new entrants to the free pre-school programme.

However, this should not negatively affect children who are entering preschool for the first time as, in June of this year, I introduced the new Access and Inclusion Model (AIM).

AIM is a new programme of supports to enable children with a disability to access and fully participate in the free pre-school programme. The AIM initiative is led by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, in close collaboration with the Department of Health, the Department of Education and Skills and others. It involves seven levels of progressive support, moving from the universal to the targeted based on the needs of the child and the service provider. Applications can be made by service providers to Pobal who are administrators of the scheme.