Ms Maria Joyce:

Before coming to the specific question, I will make a brief comment on the cuts. Since resources were cut between 2008 and 2010, they have not been restored in any way, shape or means. Local Traveller organisations have picked up much of the support work on education and they are not resourced to do so when it comes to supporting parents and children. That has had a knock-on impact as well.

One of the key points is we have seen visible rowing back on some of the progress made up to 2008 and 2010 with some of the investment that had taken place. It was not all an example of best practice in how the investment was done but at least there were specific resources. We want from 100% transfer rates from primary to secondary but as a result of those cuts and over the subsequent years, we know, anecdotally, that we no longer have 100% transfer rates from primary to secondary level.

This is a big indictment, as children are still under the age for the legal requirement to attend school. Traveller children are slipping through the cracks and not all schools have the commitment to follow up and ensure Traveller children are transferring and that the work is being done on the ground. It is an indictment of the lack of targeted resources going into Traveller education.

Resources are essential in implementation but so is a very clear vision to be set out by the Department of Education. As long as we lack a Traveller education strategy going across all levels of Traveller education, through early years, primary, post-primary and third level, we will not see the progress we need to.

On the early years element, there is currently a consultation with the Department with responsibility for children and equality; I will not go into its full name as my mind will get dizzy with all the initials. We have inputted to that. The key points we have made are that early years processes are not delivering for all Traveller children. There must be a fully funded public model of free early years childcare and education to ensure this can deliver. Local Traveller organisations should have specific supports around early years education in preschools and those models must be supported, resourced and expanded. There should be a free public model with clear engagement strategies and engagement with the Traveller community and its organisations about these spaces.

It is recognised that not all Traveller children who can access early years education are doing so. There were consultations with different stakeholders who were not just Traveller organisations, and these recognised that discriminatory practices exclude some Traveller children from taking up places. One of the fundamental points, critical to all of this, relates to engagement with early years education and childcare in the sector.

An emerging issue relates to the privatising of early years education and the parental needs, as opposed to the child's needs. Children whose parents are not working or in education will have reduced free hours available to them for early years care, which is an exclusionary practice when it comes to the most marginalised and disadvantaged children. We can put that in the context of how important is early years education to lifelong learning, so it must be got right as well.