John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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960. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the history of her Department’s involvement and policy role in the provision of early-intervention education; the responsibilities of her Department and others in relation to early-intervention education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29323/22]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I can inform the Deputy of the following in relation to the provision of early-intervention education by the State.

The State supports early intervention for children with special educational needs through providing funding to a number of crèche/early years settings including:

- Early Intervention classes in mainstream and special schools

- Early Intervention settings in HSE funded service providers

- Early years settings supported by the Early Childhood Care & Education Scheme (ECCE) and the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM)

- Early years settings supported by HSE grant aid or HSE funded Pre-School Assistant.

- Home Tuition Grant Scheme for children aged between 3 and 4 years of age with a diagnosis of autism where a placement in an Early Intervention setting is not available

The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme provides up to two years of pre-school within the eligible age range, without charge. The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), introduced in 2016, enables the full inclusion and meaningful participation of children with disabilities/additional needs in the ECCE Programme.

The goal of AIM is to create a more inclusive environment in pre-schools, so all children, regardless of ability, can benefit from quality early learning and care.

AIM is based on the needs of the child in the context of the pre-school setting. It does not require any diagnosis, recognising that many children do not have a diagnosis of a disability/additional need when starting pre-school.

The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme is under the remit of the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth providing universal pre-school of up to two years for all children.

AIM involves 7 levels of progressive support, moving from the universal to the targeted, based on the needs of the child and the pre-school setting. Universal supports are designed to create a more inclusive culture in early learning and care settings, through training courses and qualifications for staff. Where universal supports are not enough to meet the needs of an individual child, targeted supports are available to ensure the child can meaningfully participate in pre-school.

More than 4,000 children with disabilities/additional needs receive targeted AIM supports every year to enable them to participate in mainstream pre-school, and many other children are benefitting from universal AIM supports.

AIM has been recognised internationally and has won awards for both excellence in practice, and inclusive policy.

Early Intervention Classesare available for children aged 3-5 with autism spectrum disorder. A small number of early intervention classes are available for children who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing and children with physical disabilities.

Early intervention classes follow the Junior/Senior Infant Day i.e. 4 hours 40 minutes each day.

Schools, in consultation with parents, may reduce the length of the school day for 3 year olds who are unable to manage a full day in the early intervention setting.

Early intervention classes are intended to provide early support for children with ASD before they start school. Following early intervention children will attend a mainstream class unless there is professional guidance that they require a special class.

Please note: A child’s attendance in an early intervention class is not, and should not be taken as, an indication that the child will require access to a special class when he/she enrols in primary school.

In the case of an early intervention class for ASD, the professional report must state that the child has been diagnosed with ASD – the requirement for the report to state that the child has complex or severe learning needs requiring the support of a special class setting, is not necessary in this case.

In certain circumstances attendance in an early intervention setting (excluding Early Intervention classes in mainstream and special schools) may be supplemented by the Home Tuition grant, where a placement is not available in an Early Intervention Class. Parents/legal guardians are requested to declare if their child is availing of any of the schemes listed above.

If the child avails of one of the schemes, after the application for the Home Tuition grant has been approved, parents/legal guardians must notify this Department immediately.

Please note that the maximum number of combined hours which can be availed of under the above schemes is 10 hours per week for children between 2½ and 3 years of age and 20 hours per week for children over 3 years of age.

Early Intervention

A diagnosis of autism (or other disabilities/additional needs) is not required to access AIM supports. However, pre-school children with a diagnosis are generally supported in mainstream pre-schools with additional supports provided through AIM where required.