Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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As this refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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542. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will advise a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42470/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) is a model of supports designed to ensure that children with disabilities or additional needs can access the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme. Its goal is to empower pre-school providers to deliver an inclusive pre-school experience, ensuring that every eligible child can meaningfully participate in the ECCE Programme and reap the benefits of high quality early learning and care.

AIM Level 7 support provides additional funding to pre-schools who have a child requiring extra support. Providers can use this funding either to reduce the adult-to-child ratio in the pre-school room or to fund an extra staff member as a shared resource with other children in the ECCE setting. This is all centred on supporting the pre-school leader to ensure the child’s optimal participation.

In line with emerging best practice to support the integration and independence of children with a disability or additional needs, the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) does not fund Special Needs Assistants (SNAs). Rather, AIM Level 7 assistance is a shared resource for the pre-school setting.

For this reason, staff who are supported with AIM Level 7 funding must adhere to the same qualification criteria as their colleagues in the early learning and care setting, as prescribed in Regulation 9 of the Early Years Services Regulations 2016.

I am committed to supporting providers to respond to current challenges. In designing responses, however, it is important that any measures considered are proportionate to the problem they seek to address and that wider impacts are carefully considered. In that regard, it is important to stress that the minimum qualification requirement to work directly with children in an early learning care service was introduced in 2016 in order to improve the quality of provision and to achieve better outcomes for children.

To remove this minimum qualification requirement could be contrary to the best interests of children and the vision for the sector that is outlined in First 5, the whole-of-Government strategy to improve the lives of babies, young children and their families. Such a move could be a significant backwards step in efforts to improve quality outcomes for children and could only be considered if there were a very strong evidence base requiring a change.

Individuals who wish to work directly with children in a pre-school service must hold at least a major award in Early Childhood Care and Education at Level 5 on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ), or a qualification deemed equivalent. My Department has published a list of qualifications that meet this regulatory requirement. If an individual's qualification does not appear on the list they may apply to my Department for assessment of equivalence of their qualification.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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543. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to re-instate the funding for transport to and from a location (details supplied) in Wicklow for a person; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42474/23]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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As this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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544. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when a revised travel scheme for people with a disability to replace the motorised transport grant will be rolled out; the reason for the delay in rolling out said scheme, taking account of the essential need for such a scheme to be available for people with a disability; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42490/23]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The Government decided to close the Motorised Transport Grant and Mobility Allowance administrative schemes in 2013, on foot of the Ombudsman reports in 2011 and 2012 regarding the legal status of both schemes in the context of the Equal Status Acts. Both schemes remain closed.

Under the National Disability Inclusion Strategy 2017-2022, the Action 104 Transport Working Group was established in 2020 to make progress on an important cross-Government action to review transport and mobility supports for people with disabilities and to advance proposals for the enhancement of these supports going forward.

As Minister of State with responsibility for Disability, I chaired meetings of the Transport Working Group from January 2022 up to its conclusion in December 2022. The Group's work has now concluded and the final report was published in February 2023. The Report sets out the contributions made by members for the enhancement of transport and mobility supports for people with disabilities.

Access to transport for people with disabilities is a multifaceted issue that involves work carried out by multiple Government departments and agencies. It is incumbent on all Ministers, Departments and Agencies with responsibility for transport and mobility schemes for people with disabilities to consider the recommendations of the Transport Working Group, as I will be giving due consideration to the recommendations in the context of the schemes outlined above. These considerations will continue in the context of the development of a new National Disability Strategy.