Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 19 January 2022
1070. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will examine a situation (details supplied) in relation to the ECCE scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63051/21]
View answerThe ECCE programme is available to all children within the eligible age range. The minimum eligibility age of 2 years and 8 months for the ECCE programme was chosen based on national and international best practice.
From September 2018, all children meeting the minimum age requirement of 2 years and 8 months became eligible for a full two programme years on the ECCE programme. Parents are not required to send their children to ECCE, or to send them for two years. In the case of the child referred to in the question, the child would be able to avail of two years of ECCE before meeting the maximum primary school starting age, but the parents can choose to send their child to one year of ECCE and start primary school at an earlier age.
Age limits have been used to determine eligibility to ECCE since the inception of the programme in 2010.
