Down Syndrome Ireland has requested an urgent meeting with the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Dr Katherine Zappone about the long delay in releasing the findings of the consultation process on proposed changes to overage exemptions for the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme.
As many of you know, last year we met with officials from both the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) and the Department of Education and Skills (DES) to call for flexibility and parental choice to be re-introduced to the ECCE scheme for children with disabilities. This culminated in a consultation day which took place in May 2018, with a report from this consultation due in June 2018. Unfortunately, the findings from the consultation have not yet been released.
We have continued to express our disappointment with the delay, explaining that it is causing undue distress and frustration for families, and we believe that the lack of any communication on the findings of the consultation is causing inconsistency and confusion in terms of information that is being given to families.
We will keep you informed of any updates to our request for a meeting.
