The free preschool year in the early childhood care and education scheme breaks boundaries in early education and child care provision. It is incredible that many Members appear opposed to it or, at the very least, are intent on making false claims about it. It is important to step back to consider how far this country has come in early childhood care and education in the past 15 years. I recall there was little provision of early childhood care and provision when I was young. Today, however, it is available for the majority of children. There are child care providers in every nook and cranny of a rural constituency such as Donegal North-East providing an invaluable service to children and their parents. There is much voluntary work involved in many of these and it generates a sense of community for those involved.

As the father of two young children, of whom the eldest has just begun preschool, I am well aware of the wonderful opportunities available to young children through these facilities. I want providers to be assisted in the most efficient manner so they can continue to provide their service in a cost effective manner, ensuring no child can be deemed disadvantaged in availability and affordability.

Some Members get so caught up in trying to achieve perfection that they fail to look back at the wonderful achievements the Government has brought about. Childhood care and education is one of those. It is, however necessary to look forward, to always endeavour to achieve more and better. This is what the Government is doing by offering the free preschool year in early childhood care and education. It is also ensuring that funding is available to provide the best possible service required for our children. That is what this scheme epitomises.

Children will be eligible for the free preschool year when they are aged between three years, three months and four years, six months on 1 September of each year. Exceptions will be made where a child has special needs or to accommodate children due to the enrolment policy of a local primary school.

Two offers are available to providers. They can offer three hours a day, five days a week for 38 weeks in the year free of charge or they can offer two hours 15 minutes per day, five days per week for 50 weeks in the year free of charge. Participating providers will receive a capitation grant totalling €2,400 per year to cover the cost of offering this service free of charge to parents and their children.

While providers may charge for additional services, these must be optional. They may include additional hours, activities or services such as outings, birthday parties or additional teaching resources such as dance, music or food. The flexible nature of this scheme will ensure availability and suitability for all children. It is not mandatory for any provider and is an opt-in service in which providers can partake if they desire. Furthermore, it provides a degree of flexibility for providers that cannot, for good reason, operate over five days. Such cases will be considered and where appropriate may provide the service over four days for three and a half hours per day over 41 weeks of the year. This demonstrates the necessity to facilitate, rather than hinder providers.

When the economy was booming in the recent past, the Government was in a position to offer the early child care supplement, which unfortunately is no longer sustainable. However, the Government has accepted that the savings must be redirected towards a targeted and child-centred measure. I believe this new scheme to be forward-thinking and appropriate, even in the difficult times in which we now find ourselves. This new scheme has been widely welcomed across the sector by organisations such as Barnardos and other major national child care organisations. There already has been huge interest from child care providers and many child care workers have expressed an interest in setting up new additional services in anticipation of the scheme. The Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews, has been meeting child care providers and their national representative organisations in respect of this new scheme since it was first announced, and reports are highly positive. Applications will be sent to all preschool services at the end of next week and will be available from the Department and county child care committees. Moreover, parents will be informed fully about the scheme by the Department over the coming months.

Research has shown that a preschool year is of enormous benefit to children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. This is of particular interest to me as a representative of the constituency of Donegal North-East, much of which is considered to be disadvantaged. I believe this scheme will bridge the gap for many children in my constituency, which I greatly welcome. The current economic downturn is making survival a top priority for many parents of young children. It would be devastating were children to be taken out of child care or preschool due to financial strain on any family. This scheme will prove vital to those who are finding themselves in that position.

The benefits of this new scheme will be seen for many years to come as our children are encouraged to learn and grow in a positive educational setting from a young age. The benefit of a preschool year for children is immense and has well-documented benefits for society as a whole. Fault-finding with this scheme is no easy task but the Opposition has gone to considerable lengths to so do in this debate. The motion tabled by the Opposition is negative and can be described as being nothing short of electioneering. The Opposition is doing its best to put a negative spin on all things good in the hope that it might gain a few votes here and there. I do not believe that children's futures should be used for electioneering.

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