Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 January 2015
324. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the cost of introducing a universal pre-school session of 3.5 hours per day, five days a week for all children aged between three and five years. [3328/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme provides a free pre-school year to all eligible children, in the age range 3 years and 2 months to 4 years and 7 months, before commencing primary school.
The programme is designed to be delivered for three hours per day, five days per week, over 38 weeks (183 days per year), and capitation fees are paid to participating services on the basis of this provision. The programme is based on the primary school model, under which primary schools are required to open on 193 days per year (equivalent to 38.6 weeks). There are no plans to increase the current provision within the pre-school year or to extend the age range for eligibility. It is estimated that increasing the number of hours to 3.5 per day for the current cohort of eligible children would cost in the region of €28 million.
There is an increasing body of Irish and international evidence quantifying the benefits of early years interventions in terms of improving outcomes for children and in delivering significant and societal return to the State. In this context, I believe that the introduction of a second free pre-school year would benefit children’s educational and developmental outcomes.
The introduction of a second pre-school year would require considerable additional funding which is not currently available. In addition, all of the available evidence indicates that the quality of the pre-school provision is key to good outcomes for children. The actions contained in the Early Years Quality Agenda, which involves a range of measures in key areas aimed at improving quality within early years services and enhancing the regulatory regime, are currently being implemented.
Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures, the national policy framework for children and young people 2014-2020, recognises the value of early childhood care and education in supporting children’s early cognitive, social and emotional development, and the Government is committed to the introduction of a second free pre-school year within the lifetime of the framework once the required quality standards are achieved, and subject to the availability of resources.
