Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I thank the Minister of State for being present. I also thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this important matter. I was prompted to bring forward the issue by a constituent who is a low-paid worker with four children, including twins under four. My constituent was looking forward to availing of the free preschool year for her twin children beginning in September 2010. She is now bitterly disappointed to find that, because those two children will not reach the age of three until July, they will not qualify for the preschool year in September. She has been told that they would only be able to begin their preschool year in September 2011. By that time, they will be of an age to attend primary school. I have no doubt that this is not an isolated case. The same flaw in the regulations must affect thousands of children.

There is, and will be, widespread frustration with the manner in which the free preschool year in early childhood care and education has been established and implemented. The rules, as currently laid down, discriminate against children who should qualify for this scheme and this is causing deep disappointment to their parents who expected to be able to avail of the scheme. They have been refused places for this coming September because the rules of the scheme state that to qualify for places in September 2010, children must be born on or after 2 February 2006 or on or before 30 June 2007. One can imagine the disappointment of their parents, both low-paid workers struggling to raise their children. Their mother's plea to "please give me some incentive to go to work" speaks volumes.

Clearly, children should automatically qualify for the free preschool year once they become three years of age and arrangements should be made to allow them to enrol. Rolling enrolment is required. In 2010 it was provided for that children could commence in January. I urge that the same provision be made for 2011 and subsequent years. It may be that some children will not be able to avail of a full year, but they should be able to avail of part of a year.

This scheme cannot be compared to enrolment for the first year in primary school, which is the first of eight years of primary education. The scheme in question is supposed to be a free preschool year, and children and parents must be allowed to avail of it when children are of preschool age. In the case I have cited and many others like it, the children will not qualify for September 2010 and will only qualify for September 2011, by which time they will be starting primary school anyway.

I tabled questions to Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews, who is present in the House, on this matter. I refer to Questions Nos. 271 and 272 of 20 October 2009. However, I found the replies totally unsatisfactory and, in fact, contradictory. How can it be claimed that the scheme is being operated "generously", as the Minister stated, when it excludes so many children who happen to be born in what I can only describe as gap months between the registration date and the commencement date? Surely flexibility could be introduced into the system to allow children to start when they reach the age of three. Even if they were not able to avail of the full year, they could avail of part of it, and this would still be of educational value to the children and of great assistance to their parents. Again I ask, would it not be possible for children to begin in January 2011, just as they began in January 2010?

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