Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 126: To ask the Minister for Health and Children when she will issue the application forms and information packs for the recently announced early childhood care and education scheme for both parents and the owners of child care facilities; if she will forward a copy to this Deputy when they become available; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25395/09]

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, I have responsibility for the implementation of the new scheme to provide a free Pre-School in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), which will be implemented from January 2010.

As part of the preparations for introducing the new scheme, the Childcare Directorate of my Office recently wrote to almost 5,000 private and voluntary pre-school service providers in the State, inviting them to participate. These included pre-school service providers who are notified to the Health Service Executive (HSE) or registered with the Irish Montessori Education Board (IMEB) and a number of other persons who have expressed an interest in establishing a pre-school service and participating in the scheme. Application forms and other relevant information regarding the scheme were included in this correspondence and applicants are now returning forms to their local City or County Childcare Committees. The closing date for response is 10 July 2009. I have asked officials in the Childcare Directorate in my Office to forward a copy of the correspondence in question to the Deputy.

I understand that a list of participating services in each area will be made available to each City and County Childcare Committee by the end of September 2009 and parents of qualifying children will be able to contact their local Committee from that point to obtain details of local services entering the scheme. Parents will then be in a position to enrol children in local services. In many cases, parents will already have plans in place to enrol their children in services which are in the process of applying for the scheme or may already have children attending a service which proposes to participate.