Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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708. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth his views on the complaints process for parents of children who are refused a place in the early childhood care and education programme based on additional needs; the body that deals with these complaints specifically on discrimination based on additional needs of the child; if he or his Department has discussed this issue with the Department of Health as there is some crossover with Tusla; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24944/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The ECCE programme is free to all children within the eligible age range regardless of need or background.

Services are private enterprises who may hold differing admissions policies. If there is a concern that the local service's decision to refuse a place in contravention of the Equal Status Acts, then the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) is the independent, statutory body established to hear complaints in relation to employment, equality and equal status legislation.

Information on any individual's rights and entitlements under the Equal Status Acts, which prohibit discrimination and harassment on specified grounds in the access to and supply of goods and services, including information on the procedures for submission of complaints under these Acts, is available from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission.

The Commission's ‘Your Rights’ information service is available at Your Rights, IHREC, 16–22 Green Street, Dublin 7, D07 CR20 or by phone at 01-8589601 / LoCall 1890 245545, or by email at YourRights@ihrec.ie.

If any individual has a complaint in this regard, information on how to refer a complaint to the WRC is available at www.workplacerelations.ie.

If any family of a child with additional needs is experiencing challenges in accessing places, then the family's best route is to contact their local city or county childcare committee funded by my Department. Contact information for the relevant local committee is available at www.myccc.ie.

The CCC will advise both the parents and providers and mediate issues of concern. The service provider will also be advised of supports under the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) funded by my Department to assist with providing an inclusive and accessible service for children 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. The model achieves this by providing universal supports to pre-school settings, and targeted supports, which focus on the needs of the individual child, without requiring a diagnosis of disability