Vol. 467 No. 1
227 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Education the plans, if any, she has to improve the access of three year olds to publicly funded pre-school education in view of the fact that only 1.3 per cent of these children have such access. [12610/96]
My Department's responsibility in the pre-school area is limited to its involvement in the delivery of the early start pre-school programme. I have no plans at present to expand this programme. The general legislative provisions relating to pre-school services are contained in the Child Care Act, 1991, which is the responsibility of the Minister for Health. The current pilot phase of the early start pre-school programme is focused on schools serving areas which have been identified as being particularly disadvantaged. The programme has already been expanded in the current school year with the extension of the service to an additional 33 schools. This brings the total number of pre-school classes now in place to 56 with a capacity to cater for up to 1,680 children. I have established an expert monitoring committee to advise me on the operation and future development of the early start pre-school programme. This committee is representative of a wide range of interests involved in the provision of pre-school services.
