Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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798. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the estimated cost of employing ten new special needs assistants working for early years services at five hours per day five days a week for 52 weeks. [17576/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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The Deputy has asked specifically about the estimated cost of employing Special Needs Assistants. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs does not fund Special Needs Assistants.

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. Further information is available at .