Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have a number of questions. We have had a number of successful sessions on early childhood care and education. There is common agreement across all political parties and Independent Members that we need to see greater investment in high-quality and affordable child care. While I welcome the establishment of the interdepartmental group, I question why it has taken so long to establish it. However, it is not for any of the witnesses to comment on that.

The previous early years strategy took us up to 2010 and we are still awaiting the publication of the new strategy. I believe that a lot of policy developed in the past number of years on a very ad hocbasis with no overarching strategy or vision. Has the strategy been finalised? If so, when will it be published? Is it feeding into the interdepartmental group in respect of specific initiatives the Department is working on?

Dr. Lynch spoke about bringing forward costed options. Has he been given a target for the size of the allocation in respect of which he will be permitted to make proposals? We are all acutely aware of the existing allocation but has he been given a direction by the Minister on increasing expenditure by a certain amount and, if so, can he bring forward proposals to match the expenditure?

I have repeatedly raised over recent years the issue of special educational needs provision. Why has a second working group been established to investigate special educational needs? Surely this should be dealt with as a priority area by the existing interdepartmental group, which already brings together the main stakeholders. Is the framework for action on the inclusion of children with special educational needs and early education, which was commissioned in 2010 by the Department of Education and Skills, being considered? It is to the detriment of young children with learning difficulties that we have a plan which is not being implemented. That is a disgrace.

I was concerned to hear the claim that a new model may benefit from piloting. If the Minister made that claim I would see it as a fancy way of saying it would be implemented on a phased basis rather than through a national roll-out. Supports for children with special educational needs are good in some areas but more limited in others. We need to deal with that inconsistency. Can the witnesses confirm whether the supports will be in place for the free preschool year in 2015?

Quality was a common thread throughout Dr. Lynch's presentation, and rightly so. What is the status of the eight-point quality plan? The new standards have not been announced and the qualification requirements have been delayed by 12 months. Everyone I have engaged with on this subject has stressed the importance of having a qualified workforce. A target was set whereby everyone would have a level six qualification by September 2015 but that was kicked down the line by 12 months. When will the early years strategy be published? Why is the new registration process still not operational despite the fact that we put the legislation in place? These tangible quality improvement measures should have been delivered by now.

In regard to the community child care subvention, CCS, scheme, in 2013 the then Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, launched a report commissioned by the Donegal county child care committee. She gave a clear commitment that the scheme was under review and acknowledged that the CCS segregated children from less well-off families and that, by virtue of the fact it is only available in community facilities, two thirds of services are not eligible to provide the scheme. This has meant that some of the most vulnerable families have been left without the necessary supports because of their geographical location. Yesterday I attended a cross-party seminar on prevention and early intervention which set out stark evidence on the importance of early intervention. The CCS scheme could provide a funding stream to help children from the most vulnerable of families.