Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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586. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the funding that has been allocated for the administration of and application process for level 5 of the access and inclusion model in 2016 and 2017. [50365/17]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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587. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the funding that has been allocated for the administration of and application process for level 7 of the access and inclusion model in 2016 and 2017. [50366/17]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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597. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the amount of funding that has been allocated for the administration of and application process for level four of the access and inclusion model in 2016 and 2017. [50473/17]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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598. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the amount of funding that has been allocated for the administration of and application process for level six of the access and inclusion model in 2016 and 2017. [50474/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 586, 587, 597 and 598 together.

AIM supports children with disabilities to reap the full benefits of free pre-school education. Its goal is to empower pre-school providers to deliver an inclusive pre-school experience. AIM is a child-centred and evidence-based model, involving seven levels of progressive support, moving from the universal to the targeted, based on the needs of the child and the pre-school setting. AIM was launched in June 2016 and is administered by Pobal on behalf of my Department.

The following amounts have been allocated to Pobal in 2016 and 2017 for operational costs associated with AIM Levels 4, 5 and 7. The AIM Level 4 allocation includes the costs of 65 Early Years Specialists, a team of 7 co-ordinators and 2 administrative officers.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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588. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of applications made for the access and inclusion model in 2016 and 2017, in tabular form. [50367/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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AIM supports children with disabilities to reap the full benefits of free pre-school education. Its goal is to empower pre-school providers to deliver an inclusive pre-school experience. AIM is a child-centred and evidence-based model, involving seven levels of progressive support, moving from the universal to the targeted, based on the needs of the child and the pre-school setting. AIM was launched in June 2016 and is administered by Pobal on behalf of my Department.

The majority of applications for targeted supports under AIM are done by way of the submission of an Access and Inclusion Profile. This is completed by the parent and pre-school provider, in advance of the provision of an Early Years Specialist support under AIM Level 4. Targeted supports from other levels of AIM (i.e. Levels 5-7) may also be requested at this stage. The following table represents the number of Access and Inclusion Profiles submitted in 2016 and to date in 2017.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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589. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the average number of hours of additional assistance provided to children at level 7 of the access and inclusion model. [50368/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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AIM supports children with disabilities to reap the full benefits of free pre-school education. Its goal is to empower pre-school providers to deliver an inclusive pre-school experience. AIM is a child-centred and evidence-based model, involving seven levels of progressive support, moving from the universal to the targeted, based on the needs of the child and the pre-school setting. AIM was launched in June 2016 and is administered by Pobal on behalf of my Department.

In line with emerging best practice to support the integration and independence of children with a disability, AIM does not fund Special Needs Assistants (SNAs). Rather, it provides financial support to the pre-school provider, which can be used either to reduce the adult to child ratio in the pre-school room or buy in additional assistance to the pre-school room. Accordingly, AIM Level 7 support is a shared resource for the pre-school setting

A pre-school provider, in partnership with a parent, can apply for AIM Level 7 support - additional capitation. Where the AIM Early Years Specialist (a support provided under AIM Level 4) considers that an AIM Level 7 support is critical to a child's participation in the ECCE programme, they will further consider the degree of Level 7 support required having regard to the needs of the child and the pre-school setting.

There are two rates of Level 7 capitation. The lower rate is €130 per week (which is calculated on the basis of 10 hours of support per week) and the higher rate is €195 per week (which is calculated on the basis of 15 hours of support per week).

Pobal has advised that since AIM was introduced, 357 children have been approved for Level 7 capitation at the lower rate and 2,106 children have been approved for Level 7 capitation at the higher rate.