Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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453. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if the ECCE school provision can be broadened to support families who have children with additional needs who at present cannot avail of such. [41454/20]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) is a programme of supports designed to ensure that children with disabilities can access the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme in mainstream pre-school settings. Its goal is to empower pre-school providers to deliver an inclusive pre-school experience, ensuring that every child, including those with additional needs,  can meaningfully participate in their full two year entitlement of the ECCE Programme alongside their peers and can reap the benefits of quality early years care and education.

AIM is a child centred model of supports, involving seven levels of progressive support, moving from the universal to the targeted, based on the needs of the individual child and the pre-school setting. It will offer tailored, practical supports based on need and will not require a formal diagnosis of disability.The purpose of AIM is to support children to engage in two years of ECCE, regardless of development delays.  However attendance in ECCE services is not mandatory and parents may decide to send their children to just one year of ECCE, or not to send them to an ECCE service at all.

If a parent wishes to get more information on ECCE or AIM they should contact their local County Childcare Committee.  Details of all CCCs can be found on www.myccc.ie.