The Minister for Children, Disability, and Equality, Norma Foley, has announced additional funding to support children with disabilities in accessing State-funded pre-school. The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), which provides targeted support to children with disabilities, will see its capitation increase by 10 percent, directly benefiting early learning and care services that help children participate in mainstream pre-school settings.
Currently, around 8,000 pre-school children with disabilities receive the highest level of AIM supports. Providers can use the funding to either reduce class sizes or hire additional staff, ensuring that children with disabilities can meaningfully participate alongside their peers. All services receiving AIM capitation will benefit from this 10 percent increase starting October 13, aligning with a similar 10 percent rise in minimum pay for over 35,000 early years educators and school-age practitioners under a new Employment Regulation Order.
Minister Foley emphasized that the increases recognize the essential work of early years educators in creating inclusive environments and reflect the Government’s commitment to supporting both providers and educators in delivering high-quality care through the AIM. Since its introduction in 2016, AIM has significantly improved access for children with disabilities, with attendance in pre-school services increasing by over 50 percent. To date, 35,000 children have benefited from more than 80,000 targeted supports across 4,800 services nationwide.
Originally, AIM supported children during the free, universal two-year Early Childhood Care and Education Programme (ECCE). Since September 2024, the support has been extended to children outside the ECCE programme, allowing them to access up to six hours of support per day both during and outside term time. Under Budget 2026, an additional €5.4 million has been allocated to AIM, raising its total budget to €86.1 million, further strengthening inclusion and support for children with disabilities in pre-school.
