Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We need to examine the various building blocks that would be required if we were to establish a second year. As the Deputy said, the quality issue is one that we have to address and there are a variety of ways to do that. We have to examine outcomes. From the research available in this country, the outcomes of early intervention are very good. We know the research is available internationally, but increasingly we have Irish research on early intervention. The centre for effective studies is co-ordinating that research, which is coming in from, for example, the three pilot project areas in Dublin which were funded by Atlantic Philanthropy and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. We are getting details of the interventions that are most effective in working with preschool children.

The best way to assess how children are doing in preschool is longitudinally, by noting how they do when they enter primary school. The Deputy will know that there is universal praise for the impact the preschool year has had in terms of children being better prepared and better able to learn when starting in primary school. The longitudinal studies we are doing under the Growing Up in Ireland study - I have recently agreed funding for the five and half year old cohort - will tell us how the children who have had the experience of preschool do when they reach the age of five and a half. That is very important as well. There is ongoing research, and we will continue it, to find out precisely how the children who have had access to the preschool year are doing.

In terms of capacity, there are issues that need to be addressed, including workforce capacity and quality standards. The sector has universally said that it would like a second preschool year but clearly there are a range of issues to be addressed as we move towards the provision of a second year.

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