11 new pieces of specialist equipment were delivered to pre-school providers across the Shannonside region last year.
According to the latest Oireachtas figures, Longford had the lowest average wait time for equipment delivery nationwide.
AIM level 5 provides funding to pre-school providers towards the cost of minor building alterations or the installation of specialist equipment or appliances, which may be required depending on an individual child’s needs. According to the latest figures provided by Minister Roderic O'Gorman, 13 applications were made to the scheme in the Shannonside region last year 4 Applications were made in Longford with all being approved, 2 of those were orders for assistive equipment with both being delivered. Longford also had an average wait time for delivery of 8 days from approval, the lowest in the country. Roscommon had 4 applications made and approved, with all of those being equipment orders for Acoustic Treatments and Assistive Technology 2 items have been delivered with an average wait time of 21 days.
Finally Leitrim had 5 applications for equipment approved, all of which were for Assistive Technology. Leitrim also had the longest average wait time for equipment in the region at 27 days.
A total of 325 pieces of equipment for pre-school providers were delivered nationwide last year with a total cost of €553,732.
