James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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135. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if she will outline her plans to expand the access and inclusion model to support children below the current age of eligibility, which is two years and 8 months; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32282/25]

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.