Vol. 495 No. 7
748 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Education and Science the reasons he has not published the report on early childhood education, further to Parliamentary Question No. 432 of 20 October 1998; if he will publish it without further delay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21796/98]
As I stated in my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 432 of 20 October 1998, the report on the National Forum for Early Childhood Education, which was prepared by the independent secretariat to the forum, was received in my Department over the summer period. The arrangements for printing the report were then made by my Department.
I considered it inadvisable to publish the report during the summer, when many of the persons and organisations with an interest in the matter would have been unavailable due to holidays. Pressure of other commitments, including, most particularly, legislative commitments, since the summer break has meant that I have not had the opportunity to publish the report over the period. However, I intend to publish the report in the near future.
