Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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796. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will review the guidelines in relation to employing persons under the better start access and inclusion model in view of the fact play schools across the country are refusing the funding offered under this programme due to the recruitment criteria (details supplied). [17562/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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The Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016 provide that each employee working directly with children attending a pre-school service must hold at least a major award in early childhood care and education at Level 5 on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) or a qualification deemed to be equivalent.

The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), which is a programme of supports to enable children with a disability to access and fully participate in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, was introduced in June 2016 and is administered by Pobal on behalf of my Department. The degree of support provided through AIM depends on the needs of the child in the context of the pre-school service. One of the supports offered under AIM - Level 7 - is additional capitation. Where approval for additional capitation has been agreed, and in circumstances where the maximum capitation has been approved, it can be used in one of two ways. It can be used to reduce the adult to child ratio in the pre-school room, from 1 adult and 11 children down to 1 adult and 8 children, without any financial loss to the pre-school provider. Alternatively, it can be used to buy in additional assistance to the pre-school room.

Applicants who intend to use additional capitation provided under AIM Level 7 to employ an additional person for the pre-school room or increase hours for existing staff must ensure that such staff have a Level 5 major award in early childhood care and education.

The Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 allow for an exemption to the qualification requirements for an employee of a registered childcare provider receiving funding under Level 7 of AIM where it has deemed that specialised health support, for example nursing care, is required. In limited circumstances, an exemption may be granted by Pobal where it has considered that such specialist support is required and is critical to the child's meaningful participation in the ECCE programme. Such exemptions will primarily be for children with medically complex needs. The service would need to request an exemption during the appraisal process or once funding has been approved prior to recruitment.

When the Early Years Quality Agenda was introduced in 2013 to further improve quality in early years services, one of the items to be progressed was the introduction of a requirement that all staff working with children in pre-school services must hold the Level 5 major award in early childhood care and education. The new qualification requirement is based on international evidence demonstrating that increasing the qualification levels of staff in childcare increases the quality of the service and therefore improves the outcomes for children using the service.

There are no plans to review this qualification requirement as it relates to AIM at the present time. However, this matter can be brought to the attention of the Cross-Sectoral Implementation Group to consider. It can also be considered in the context of planned reviews of AIM, the first of which will take place end 2017 with a full formal evaluation planned for 2019.