Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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1235. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the engagement she has had with the with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in relation to a review of the 2001 childcare facilities for planning authorities to ensure childcare spaces are provided and put into use; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30379/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The 2001 Planning Guidelines for Local Authorities on Early Learning and Childcare Settings were issued under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000.

The Guidelines are intended to ensure a consistency of approach throughout the country to the treatment of applications in respect to the land use planning aspects of early learning and childcare provision, for relevant planning applications.

While the 2001 Planning Guidelines have certainly contributed to the coming on stream of a considerable number of early learning and childcare facilities, I recognise that the Guidelines require updating to ensure that they are fit for purpose and can deliver the type of infrastructure required in future years. Key considerations will include the treatment of apartments in the determining of the level of early learning and childcare provision required and the size and design specifications of facilities required to be delivered.

My Department is currently engaging with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to examine and review the 2001 Planning Guidelines for Local Authorities on Early Learning and Childcare Settings with a view to updating them. A Working Group is in place between these Departments, as well as the Department of Education, to progress this project. It was established in 2024 and has been meeting in 2024 and 2025.

The first step towards revising the guidelines will be to engage with Local Authorities with experience of applying the guidelines to understand their impact and issues arising. The findings of this process will inform the scale and content of revisions to the guidelines. An inception meeting took placed yesterday, 9 June, involving members of the Working Group and officials from different local authorities who were nominated by the CCMA Planning and Land Use Committee.

Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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1236. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if she will provide an update on her plans to examine and expand the access and inclusion model and make it available to younger children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30380/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) was introduced in 2016 to ensure that children with additional needs or a disability could access and meaningfully participate in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme.

In line with a commitment in First 5: A Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families 2019-2028, an independent evaluation of AIM was undertaken in order to inform an extension of AIM beyond the ECCE programme as well as any potential enhancements to the model.

The findings from the evaluation were published in January 2024 and have informed the phased extension of AIM. Since September 2024, AIM was expanded beyond time spent in the ECCE programme for ECCE-aged children. This allows children to access early learning and childcare for up to an additional 3 hours in term and 6 hours out of term.

It is intended that over time, all children with additional needs registered in early learning and care services will have access to supports under AIM. As with the current AIM-eligible cohort, these supports would be open to children based on individual needs. The nature of the supports required for children aged 0-3 will differ from those needed for the ECCE-aged cohort. To address this, officials in my Department are currently designing a tailored model to facilitate the extension of AIM supports to children under the age of three.