Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 November 2015
163. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the consultation with representatives of preschool providers in advance of the decision to proceed with the second year of free preschool; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38747/15]
View answerAt present, the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme covers children who have reached the age of 3 years and 2 months by 1st September of the relevant year. From September 2016, I am expanding the ECCE programme to allow children to access free pre-school from the time they are 3 years of age until they start primary school.
This extended free pre-school provision was first recommended by the Expert Advisory Group on the Early Years Strategy in 2013. It was also one of a series of recommendations of the recent Inter-Departmental Group on Future Investment in Childcare which I established in January last. The Group consulted widely with a range of stakeholders, including the early years sector, during the course of its work through an Open Policy Debate and two online consultation processes, the reports of which are available on my Department's website. The recommendation was included in the Report of the Inter-Departmental Group, which I published in July this to facilitate a further debate on how best to meet the needs of parents and children.
I have recently met with senior representatives from the early years sector to discuss this and other improvements that were announced as part of the €85 million investment package in Budget 2016. The meeting was positive and constructive, with all parties expressing commitment to work together on the issues of capacity and high quality pre-school provision. My Department will be working closely with the early years sector to build capacity in time for the intakes in September 2016, and for subsequent increased availability in January and April 2017.
