Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

My Department has conducted an analysis of the ECCE scheme capacity and is satisfied there will be no shortfall in ECCE places for the 2017-18 programme year. It should be noted the peak number of children attending ECCE in 2016-17 was just over 120,000. The 2017-18 numbers are expected and on track to be in line with the 2016-17 uptake.

From September 2018, the ECCE programme will revert to one single entry point, in September, in a given ECCE programme year with eligible children entitled to two full years of ECCE provision. From September 2018, the number of ECCE enrolments in any given year will be around 114,000. The fact that 120,000 children were provided with ECCE places in April 2017 suggests there is sufficient capacity to deal with the lower, albeit year round number of 114,000.

As with the previous expansion of the ECCE programme, my Department is working closely with all city and county child care committees to monitor a range of scheme related issues, including capacity. In the event capacity issues emerge, we will seek to address them accordingly. Recent media statements on the issue cited the total number of children aged three to five in the population and concluded there was a capacity issue for ECCE. It did not account for the many four and five year olds already in primary school or those who opt for only one year of the ECCE programme. The conclusion that a capacity issue exists is therefore inaccurate.

See this speech in context