148. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the date on which the decision was made to introduce a restriction limiting preschool rooms to one maintenance of reduced ratio arrangement; when the decision was approved by the Department; where and when the policy was formally published prior to its communication to providers through the Early Years Hive on 25 August 2026; whether transitional arrangements were considered for providers who had already submitted service requests before that notification date, including applications submitted on 19 August 2026 based on arrangements approved in previous years. [74534/26]

150. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether an assessment was undertaken of the impact of the restriction limiting preschool rooms to a single maintenance of reduced ratio arrangement on children with additional needs for whom reduced group size is itself an essential support, including children experiencing sensory overload, communication difficulties, hearing-related challenges or risks associated with absconding; and if she will provide details of any such assessment. [74531/26]

151. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the evidence, research, consultation findings or needs-based assessment that informed the decision to limit the approval of maintenance of reduced ratio (MRR) arrangements under the access and inclusion model (AIM) to one MRR per preschool room; and the basis upon which it was determined that no further MRR arrangement may be approved regardless of the outcome of an individual service needs review. [74530/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 148, 150 and 151 together.

The Access and Inclusion Model or AIM is a programme of supports designed to ensure that children with a disability or additional needs can access the Early Childhood Care and Education or ECCE programme. The goal of AIM is to empower early learning and care providers to deliver an inclusive pre-school experience, ensuring that every eligible child can meaningfully participate in the ECCE programme and reap the benefits of quality early learning and care in any mainstream service participating in ECCE.

It should be noted that the AIM rules 2025/2026 which were published in November 2025 refer to maintaining a reduced ratio rather than multiple reduced ratios. The AIM Rules do not refer to more than one maintenance of reduced ratio within one room because it was understood that only one would be applied and it was therefore not considered necessary to state this.

To clarify, there was no decision to limit the policy to one reduced ratio, rather the policy intention was always that only one would apply.  As previously stated, it was only when queries recently arose regarding the reduced ratio that it was decided to provide clarity in regard to this rule and this clarification was recently published on the Hive. The AIM Rules 2026/2027 now include this clarification and will be published shortly online.

With regard to the maintenance of reduced ratios, since only one is permitted within one room under the AIM Rules, a service needs review cannot recommend a further reduced ratio. Transitional arrangements are not permitted and it is not intended that a review of the maintenance of reduced ratio rule will be undertaken.

It is not considered that allowing more than one maintenance of reduced ratio within a room would best meet the needs of children with additionally complex or medically complex needs and keeping a limit of one only per room is not considered to be a restriction. Additional assistance is what is required to meet the needs of children with additionally complex or medically complex needs. In addition, reduction of available places impacts children seeking an ECCE place. If more than one maintenance of reduced ratio was permitted, then every time a ratio in a particular room was reduced it would decrease the number of available places by a further three places rather than adding extra adults to assist.