Ms Moira O'Mara:

The point was also made that there will be a reduction in ECCE funding for next year. The reduction in this regard is 3% and it actually came into effect from September of this year. As Deputy Troy said, the Minister has managed to maintain the funding for the preschool year. However, the number of children participating in the programme is rising and, unfortunately, it was necessary to make that small cut. The same services have all come back in and we have not have any negative feedback from the sector. In general, people recognise that the programme is being maintained and are pleased about that.

Quality is very much at the heart of what we are doing, particularly as the programme led to the introduction of qualifications and curricular requirements for the first time. Since then, we have been partnering the Department of Education and Skills in the context of working together as best we can in order to improve quality in the sector. ECCE is delivering both the Aistear curriculum and the Síolta framework for the Department of Education and Skills. We are very heavily involved in the literacy and numeracy strategy, which is extremely important. Again, there is a partnership in respect of children moving forward into primary school. We are also working on developing an education-focused evaluation of preschool services in order that we might move away from a purely health-and-safety assessment process.

As the Minister indicated, the key issue which arises is ongoing professional development within the sector. That is another area in respect of which we must work with the existing educational infrastructure and try to get it to adapt to meet our service delivery needs in the context of service development. Again, the higher capitation rate has been a driving force for quality within the sector. When the programme was originally introduced in January 2010, approximately 5% of services qualified for the higher capitation rate. This is where there are graduates in the service. That rate is expected to hit approximately 20% in the not too distant future. This is a major step forward for the sector.

There are issues which arise in the context of how we would determine who would qualify for the second year. There is no funding for this as matters stand. The administrative cost of operating a system that is transparent and equitable for all children would also be very high. If a child has development delay, however, he or she can come into the preschool year at a later age. It is quite common for parents to take up this option. In addition, parents-----