Vol. 554 No. 5
561 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science the recommendations made by the review group on early childhood education, which he established some years ago, that have been accepted and acted upon by the Government; the recommendations which have been accepted but remain to be acted upon; and the recommendations which have been rejected by the Government. [15960/02]
The Deputy is referring to the National Forum for Early Childhood Education, which was established in 1998 as part of the commitment in the last programme for Government, An Action Plan for the Millennium, to prioritise the development of early childhood care and education. Following presentations made to the national forum by 32 organisations involved in early childhood care and education, a compre hensive report was published by the forum's secretariat in 1998. Rather than making specific recommendations, the report set out key principles and issues for the future development of early childhood care and education on which broad agreement was reached at the forum. These include developing a national framework to promote high quality care and education in home and centre settings; safeguarding diversity of provision; promoting family friendly employment policies; recognising the role of parents; ensuring co-ordination and integration of services; regulating staff training and accreditation; enhancing access for children who are disadvantaged or have special needs; and sponsoring research.
The report was accepted by the Government as a basis for the preparation of the White Paper on Early Childhood Education, Ready to Learn, which was published in December 1999. The White Paper sets out a comprehensive strategy for the development of early childhood education for children aged from birth to six years. Following its publication, my Department carried out an extensive post-consultation process with all of those who made presentations to the national forum. The aim of these consultations was to seek the views of interested parties with regard to the implementation of the policies set out in the White Paper and to enable the necessary planning and preparatory work for implementation to be undertaken by my Department in line with commitments given in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness.
This culminated in the appointment last autumn of St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra and the Dublin Institute of Technology to set up and jointly manage a new centre for early childhood development and education. The centre has been given the following remit: to establish a national quality framework for early childhood education in all its aspects which is capable of being applied in the various settings in which this is provided; to develop targeted interventions for children up to six years who are disadvantaged or who have special needs, building on the experience of existing initiatives; and to lay the groundwork for the establishment of an early childhood education agency as envisaged by the White Paper.
A budget of some €3.2 million has been approved for the operation of the centre over a three year period. A full-time director, three development officers and two administrative support staff have now been appointed to progress the work of the centre under the supervision of a management committee comprising representatives of St. Patrick's College and the Dublin Institute of Technology. The work of the centre will be undertaken in close consultation with my Department and the various stakeholders in the sector.
