Scaremongering on special needs and access to preschool year unfounded - Andrews

 Fine Gael have been accused of “scaremongering” on the issue of special needs and access to preschool by Minister for Children Barry Andrews TD.  Following remarks by FG Deputy Olivia Mitchell, the Fianna Fáil Minister said, “Ever since the preschool year was announced in the supplementary budget, Fine Gael has objected to the scheme.  Having first argued for the right of service providers to charge fees to "top up" the capitation fee paid by the Government, Deputy Mitchell now erroneously claims that the preschool year excludes children with special needs, due to the '15 hour' requirement.”   

“Not only is this untrue, it is a blatant attempt to play politics with the sensitive subject of special needs.  The least that Deputy Mitchell could do before making such charges is to check the facts.  Ignoring the fact that these questions were answered on the floor of the Dáil last night, Deputy Mitchell continues to raise unfounded concerns.  Either Deputy Mitchell ignored the assurances or was not listening to the Ministerial response.” 

“Last night in the Dáil, Deputy Mitchell claimed that, as the scheme is currently devised, from September 2010 it will only pay providers for a 15-hour week, and that this is often inappropriate for children with special needs.  This statement was rejected last night in the Dáil when Minister John Curran said, "the general requirement that a child would be expected to attend four or five days each week will not apply to children with special needs where a shorter week would be more appropriate to their needs".  This information has been available to the sector for some time.  Today, however, she repeated the claim in a further attempt to undermine one of the most significant steps forward in the development of early years education in Ireland.” 

“The scheme guarantees that services participating will be required to make reasonable accommodation for children with special needs, in accordance with the Equal Status Acts 2000 to 2004.  In addition, the scheme takes account of a number of issues to accommodate children with special needs.”   “While the age range in which children will qualify for the scheme is, generally, between 3 years 3 months and 4 years 6 months on 1 September each year, exceptions are allowed where a child has been assessed by the HSE as having a special need, which will delay his or her entry to primary school.  In such cases, the pre-school year relevant to such children will be taken as their qualifying year.”   

“Furthermore, the general requirement that a child would be expected to attend 4 or 5 days each week will not apply to children with special needs where a shorter week would be more appropriate to their needs.  Where a pre-school service is a specialist one providing a service to children with special needs and additional flexibility in the arrangements for the scheme is required, this will also be considered.” 

“Pre-schools have started applying to the City and County Childcare Committees to enter the scheme, and they report very high levels of interest.  While they have until mid-July to apply, the indications are that there will be sufficient supply to meet the requirements of the scheme from next January, when it commences.” “The scheme is intended to be inclusive and responsive to the needs of all children.  The only area where I find myself agreeing with Deputy Mitchell is the assertion that the preschool year can make dramatic contribution to the developmental needs of a child with special needs,” Minister Andrews concluded. 

ENDS.