Ms Mary McLoughlin:

I was asked about the costs of child care. The expert advisory group was asked to make recommendations about how things should work better. The Minister did not expect the group to make recommendations about the cost, which is a Government issue. However, the cost to parents is one of the major issues in the early years strategy which we discussed on foot of the Indecon report.

There has already been extensive public consultation on the framework generally, of which approximately 20% related to the early years strategy. There was a great deal of take-up of that. Following the publication of the report of the expert advisory group in December, we held a sectoral but broad consultation. We brought in many people and the members of the group facilitated a series of workshops.

We got feedback from them. I do not think the Minister intends to engage in further public consultation. There may be some discussion, particularly with the group, but there has been extensive public consultation and at this point, it is a question of moving ahead. The cost of measures will have to be considered. That is part of the work we have been doing and there will be timeframes. Reference was made to an implementation plan, for which there are very clear outcomes.

A lot of work is ongoing in the area of special education. In terms of early years education, there is some very good practice around the country; therefore, some children are well supported. It must be said and it is not often recognised that the majority of children with special needs are participating in the free preschool year. It is not the case that a huge block of children are not participating. Our concern is that for some of them, the quality they are experiencing is not what we would like it to be. A lot of work is ongoing between us, the Department of Health, the HSE and, to some extent, the Department of Education and Science to make sure children can access supports to make the service work effectively in order that parents do not have to go to many different places. From the early years education perspective, we would like to see not so much a bio-diagnosis but support provided if children need it in order that one does not need to go through a process of diagnosis or assessment. That is what we are trying to work towards with the Department of Health. There have been some improvements in some parts of the country, but I certainly recognise that we have a long way to go. We are in the fourth year after the introduction of the free preschool year. A lot of things are developing that are not being done as well as they should be. There have been many improvements for children with additional needs and we will continue to work with the Department of Health.