Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 May 2016
221. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will accommodate the extra preschool year in full in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11129/16]
View answerIn Budget 2016, my Department announced a significant expansion to pre-school provision under the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. This measure, which will be introduced from September 2016, means that children will be eligible to start free pre-school when they reach the age of 3, and continue to avail of free pre-school until they start primary school (once the child is not older than 5½ years at the end of the pre-school year i.e. end June). Following the introduction of the expanded programme there will be three opportunities each year - in September, January and April - for eligible children to enrol for the free pre-school provision. This will ensure that children aged 3 or over have the opportunity to enrol as soon as possible after their third birthday.
The expansion of the ECCE programme will see the number of children benefitting from the Programme rise from around 67,000 to around 127,000 in a given programme year. For the 2016/17 programme year, it is estimated that 89,500 children will be eligible to enrol in the Programme from September 2016, an additional 22,000 from January 2017 and a further 15,500 from April 2017.
My Department made detailed information available to the City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs), including Kildare CCC, at the beginning of this year indicating the number of children, by every electoral division across the country, who would be eligible for an ECCE place in September 2016, January 2017 and April 2017. My Department continues to work closely with the City and County Childcare Committees to match this data against their reported capacity in the sector to meet the increase in demand. This exercise is almost complete. Where any capacity issues are found, I will be asking the relevant City / County Childcare Committee to work intensively with my Department to resolve the issue.
The Department announced earlier this year the introduction of an Early Years Capital Programme 2016 with total funding of €4 million available. This funding was targeted at early years pre-school providers that are making alterations to their services to accommodate the increased numbers of children eligible for the free pre-school provision following the decision to expand the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. The maximum grant available under this programme is €10,000. The closing date for applications was 8 April, 2016.
