Patrick Nulty
Question:618. Deputy Patrick Nulty asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to provide for an additional free preschool year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9081/14]
View answerTuesday, 25 February 2014
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The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme was introduced in January 2010 and provides a free pre-school year to all eligible children before commencing primary school. Approximately 68,000 children availed of the free pre-school year in the 2012/2013 academic year and €175 million funding was made available to support the provision. It is expected that similar numbers will avail of the programme in the current year.
The provision of a second free pre-school year would require considerable additional funding, broadly in line with the cost of the current one-year provision. This additional funding is not currently available due to the financial constraints under which the Government is operating. In addition, all of the available evidence indicates that the quality of the pre-school provision is key to good outcomes for children. The Pre-School Quality Agenda, which is currently being progressed by my Department, involves a range of actions in key areas aimed at improving quality within early years services and enhancing the regulatory regime, is a key building block for any further extension of universal childcare provision.
Future developments relating to early years care and education are being considered as part of the preparation of the new National Early Years Strategy. The report of the Expert Advisory Group, "Right from the Start", sets out a wide range of recommendations for consideration and will contribute substantially to the final draft of the Early Years Strategy. One of the recommendations in the Report for consideration in the preparation of the Strategy is to extend the free pre-school provision, but only after achieving higher quality standards, more investment in training and mentoring, and professionalisation of the Early Years workforce.