Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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109. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if there are plans to provide funding for childcare providers to increase staff ratio in ECCE classes taking into account the needs of younger children in early education settings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20915/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The minimum required ratios of adults to children in early learning and care services in Ireland for full day care or part-time provision are: 1:3 for children under 1 year old; 1:5 for children aged between 1 and 2 years old; 1:6 for 2 year olds; and 1:8 for pre-school children aged between 3 and 6. For children in sessional (less than 3.5 hours) pre-school provision who are aged between 2 years 6 months and 6 years old, there is a minimum adult-child ratio of 1:11. This sessional minimum ratio of 1:11 applies to children participating in the Early Childcare Care and Education (ECCE) programme, for which the eligible age group is children between 2 year 8 months and 5 year 6 months. These adult-child ratios are among the lowest in Europe according to the most recent (2019) edition of the Eurydice / European Commission report on 'Key Data on Early Childhood Education and Care in Europe'.

The introduction of the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) in 2016 had a positive impact on adult-child ratios in many early learning and care settings, with the provision of funding to support additional assistance in response to the needs of children with disabilities within pre-school rooms. This funding can be used either to ensure a 1:8 ratio in a room where a child with a disability is taking part in the ECCE programme, or to recruit an additional staff member for a room with a child with a disability, thus improving the effective adult-child ratio in the pre-school room. 

Since AIM’s inception in 2016, more than 10,900 approvals for additional assistance have been awarded as part of AIM, benefitting the children taking part in the ECCE programme in the rooms where this additional support has been provided.