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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 1 Jul 1999

Vol. 507 No. 4

Written Answers. - Early Childhood Education.

Róisín Shortall

Question:

243 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Education and Science the total funding which his Department provides to the pre-school sector; the number of places which this represents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17110/99]

My Department's involvement in the area of pre-school education is currently confined to its support for the early start pre-school pilot programme; the Rutland Street pre-school project; and pre-schools for traveller children.

Expenditure on these services amounted to £3.79 million in 1998 which includes both grant allocations and teacher and child care worker salaries.

The early start pre-school pilot programme which includes 40 schools caters for a maximum of 1,650 children between the ages of three and four years of age. The Rutland Street pre-school project currently has an enrolment of 92 pupils. There are currently 56 traveller pre-schools in operation catering for approximately 660 traveller children.

Work on a White Paper on early childhood education is under way in my Department. This follows the national forum for early childhood education, which I hosted last year, and which provided an opportunity for all those involved in the area of early childhood education to come together and to share their views on future policy in this area.

In advance of completion of the White Paper, I recently announced an allocation of £1.2 million for special initiatives on early education. My intention is that this funding will be focused in particular on the development of early education services for children with disabilities. My Department is currently considering possible developments in this regard.

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