Dáil debates

Tuesday, 17 December 2013

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions

Preschool Services

2:30 pm

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

I have always said that I believe a second year is the right direction in which to go as far as preschool services are concerned and that we ought to offer a second year. That is the vision I have been working towards. I have never been able to say precisely when it would come about but it was always very clear that a number of issues needed to be addressed prior to the introduction of a second year. They centre in particular on the quality of the services - staff availability and training, the availability of a high-quality service, and funding. I mentioned the troika by way of referencing the fact that things are improving in terms of the economy, but we do have a long way to go. As part of any improvement in the years to come I want child care to feature strongly among the public services we provide.

That is the context in which I am making my point. Obviously, 68,000 children are availing of the free preschool year. The feedback from it is extremely good. The transition to primary school has gone very well for the first cohort of children whom we have examined who have had the benefit of preschool education. We are working towards our objective.

I highlight continuously the benefits of early intervention. A second free preschool year would represent approximately €3,000 worth of free child care to parents and it would generate 4,000 to 5,000 new jobs. It is obviously on the agenda and I will work towards it. As the budgetary position allows for it, I would like to see this developing. This year, we have taken the additional steps in regard to training. The additional funding is not currently available due to financial constraints on the Government but all the evidence tells us that we get very good outcomes when we allow for the quality preschool provisions in question. I certainly will be working towards this objective. I hope that we will move towards a second year. I set up the early years advisory group to examine the needs of those under six and five because we have not been particularly good at doing so in this country. We will have our early years strategy published early in the new year.

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