Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 4 November 2015
134. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he acknowledges that the announcement of the availability of the refund of preschool fees on 21 October 2015, with a deadline of 23 October 2015, was unfair and unpractical (details supplied); if he will allow for an extension of the period allowed to apply for the refund. [38568/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraAt present, the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme covers children who have reached the age of 3 years and 2 months by 1st September of the relevant year. Children born between 2nd February 2011 and 30th June 2012 and who have not previously availed of the ECCE programme in the Sept 2014 pre-school year, are eligible to avail of the free pre-school provision in the school year commencing September 2015. Some of these children were eligible under the current eligibility criteria to avail of the free pre-school year in either the school year commencing in September 2015 or the school year commencing September 2016.
Following the Budget announcement, which expanded the ECCE programme to allow children to access free pre-school from the time they are 3 years of age until they start primary school, some parents who had initially opted to enrol their children for the 2016 commencement date decided to enrol in the current school year. This enables them to avail of the further provision in the school year commencing September 2016 that resulted from the Budget measures.
Pre-school providers can register those children now opting to avail of the programme in the current year on the Programme Implementation Platform (PIP) using the "registration request" facility, stating that the Budget 2016 announcement is the reason for the delay in applying for the place. Once the free pre-school place is approved and the provider receives payment for the child, the parent must be refunded.
