Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I am pleased to be able to speak on this motion and support the Government's amendment. The value of early investment in education has been well charted over recent years. Deputy Stanton referred to the return of eight to one for every euro invested in this area. Reports indicate the return is even greater for disadvantaged children. Thus, there should be widespread support for the measure introduced in the budget. An equivalent measure in the United Kingdom has been described as a quiet revolution, the benefits of which will not be seen for many years.

I thank the speakers on the Government side for their support for this proposal. The NESF said it would be a landmark in Irish social and educational history if it were introduced. That was in 2005, at the height of the Celtic tiger boom, when there was plenty of money around. The preschool scheme will yield major benefits for Irish society and for children at a time when there is great focus on preparing a better life for our children, particularly those who are disadvantaged and have not hitherto benefited from preschool services.

Clearly, there will be challenges; change always brings challenge. However, one Deputy after another on the Opposition side, while talking about consultation, mentioned occasions on which I have met representatives of the child care sector in their constituencies. Deputy Hayes referred to visits I made to Cahir and Fethard, Deputy Breen referred to visits to Kildysart, Ennistymon and other areas, and Deputy Kelly referred to trips to Longford. There has been much consultation, and what has been said to us time and again is that the downturn in the economy means there are fewer people using preschool services. We are told there is greater capacity and there are empty places, and that there has been migration from private facilities to the community sector. I have been asked what I was going to do about it. We did something about it. The Government decision was a visionary one and was completely against the tide of reductions in other areas of the economy.

Support for the scheme has been widespread. Of the people who have contacted my office, 80% or 90% have been supportive. Deputies have said information is not available. The national voluntary child care organisations have circulated information to their members. My own office has information on its website and we have a telephone line on which we have received thousands of queries and have been able to support people. The city and county child care committees have been circulating information to their members, and next week packs will be sent out to 5,000 service providers throughout the country. Applications will be accepted between 8 June and 11 July by the city and county child care committees and will be processed by the end of September. Parents can enrol children in October or November and the scheme will commence in January 2010. That information is and has been available.

Deputy Breen said the issue has been coming up on the doorsteps. It may well have been, as people are interested in it. This information will be made available to them in due course. However, he makes a mistake with regard to his concerns, which would be legitimate if they were not already dealt with, about children with developmental delay or who might not be able to avail of the scheme because of local school enrolment policies. These issues have been considered and dealt with in the scheme, and this information has been circulated to the city and county child care committees for their benefit. I reject the Deputy's comments in that regard. I hope this will assuage his fears and allow him to support the measure that is before the House.

Where are we going with this measure? The NESF report from 2005 to which I referred earlier contained a reference to ten-year development in this area. We need a workforce development plan and to improve the skills of staff who are working in this area. The curriculum will be based on Aistear, which will cover junior and senior infants as well as the pre-school year, and Síolta provides us with a framework for quality in early childhood care and education. We will continue to have an open-door policy with the providers. I have met with all of them and continue to meet them in my constituency clinic. I will meet some more of them later this week. We would like to move towards providing a higher payment to services with higher levels of qualification among teachers.

All Deputies should welcome this move. It is a landmark in Irish care and education and the benefits will be seen for many years to come.

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