Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 June 2025
670. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the reason AIM support educators funding is withdrawn when a child is absent due to illness or holidays; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31905/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra671. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the reason for the current policy under which AIM support educators funding is withdrawn when a child is marked as absent due to illness or holidays on the HIVE system; if she is aware that services must continue to pay the AIM support educators during these absences; the actions her Department is taking to address providers concerns; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31906/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra672. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the reason services are required to pay AIM support educators when they are out sick, while the provider is still caring for the supported child without any replacement or additional funding; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31907/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 670, 671 and 672 together.
The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) is administered by Pobal on behalf of my Department. My Department and Pobal have recently received a number of queries relating to the attendance of children in receipt of AIM supports, with regard to absences due to illness or holiday.
Pobal recently published a notice on the Early Years Hive – the Early Learning and Care and School Aged Childcare service provider portal for programmes funded by my Department in order to address these queries. This notice clarified that the rules relating to absences or under-attendance for children in receipt of AIM supports, as outlined in Section 10 of the AIM Programme Rules, have not changed.
Specifically, for AIM Level 7 (Standard), service providers must adhere to the absence and under-attendance rules set out in the Early Childhood Care and Education programme rules, which have been in place for a number of years. In line with these rules, Pobal must be informed through a ‘Prolonged Absence Review’ if a child in receipt of AIM supports is absent for four or more consecutive weeks.
It is important to note that service providers are responsible for their own employment matters. AIM Level 7 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. If AIM funding has been provided for additional support in a room, that additional staffing must be maintained.
The Deputy may already be aware that through the independent Joint Labour Committee process, a formal mechanism has been established by which employer and employee representatives can negotiate terms and conditions of employment for different roles in early learning and care and school-age childcare services. Outcomes from the Joint Labour Committee process are supported by the Government through the Core Funding scheme, which has an allocation for this programme year alone of €331 million. I have secured additional funding of nearly €20 million in Budget 2025 for Year 4 of Core Funding. This brings the full year budget for Core Funding Year 4 to a minimum of €350 million. In addition, a maximum of €45 million in State funding to support services to meet costs of increased minimum rates of pay in the sector will be made available to services from September 2025 onwards. This maximum of €45 million is contingent on the establishment of new minimum rates of pay in the sector through updated Employment Regulation Orders.
