David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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675. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will review the terms of AIM funding to facilitate appropriate backpay for retention of relevant qualified staff following the successful receipt of advanced levels of AIM support; if she will review the possibility of reimbursing a service provider for additional costs incurred due to exceptional circumstances and delays in securing further AIM funding, including critical infrastructural requirements directly related to the well-being of the children attending the service (details supplied). [56590/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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It is the Department’s understanding that Pobal, as the administrator of the AIM programme, has reviewed the service provider’s request to facilitate appropriate backpay for the retention of qualified staff following the approval of advanced levels of AIM support. Pobal has confirmed that all actions taken were in line with the programme rules governing AIM.

The Department are currently reviewing these rules, and a revised version of the rules will be published shortly.

In relation to your query on the Level 5 application for the service referenced, Pobal have informed this Department that they have been in direct contact with the service, and the issue has been resolved to the satisfaction of the service.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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676. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the average time to decision in AIM funding applications, by funding level, for each year 2021-2025 to date, in tabular form. [56591/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) is a model of supports designed to ensure that children with additional needs can access the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme. The goal of AIM is to empower Early Learning and Care (ELC) providers to deliver an inclusive preschool experience, ensuring that every eligible child can meaningfully participate in the ECCE Programme and reap the benefits of high-quality early learning and care through universal and targeted supports.

AIM Level 7 support provides additional funding to ELC providers, the funding acts to either reduce the child-to-adult ratio in the room or to fund an extra staff member as a shared resource with other children in the setting. Since September 2024, AIM Level 7 funding was expanded to include for an additional 3 hours during term time, or an additional 6 hours during non-term time for ECCE eligible children.

AIM Level 5 provides funding for specialised equipment, appliances or small capital grants towards minor building alterations. A short report from a designated professional is required confirming that the specialised equipment or minor building alterations are necessary to enable the participation of a child in pre-school.

AIM Level 4 is delivered by Better Start Early Years Specialist Service (EYSS). They work collaboratively with parents, pre-school providers, and with other professionals to develop inclusive learning environments in pre-schools. The EYSS also provides coaching and mentoring to the pre-school staff on supporting children in the ECCE service. This includes the creation of an Access and Inclusion Plan for children, which can help identify additional support and resources required to meet the needs of the child in the pre-school room.

The timeline for processing applications is currently under review between officials in my Department and Pobal, who are the administrator of the AIM scheme on behalf of my Department. A key objective of the ongoing review is to learn from provider experiences to improve the application process.

Please see the below tables relating to the average number of days it takes to process an application in level 4, 5 and 7. These are currently the only targeted supports which require an application. To note, programme year 2025-2026 covers up to the 14th of October 2025.