Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The summer programme has been described by, for example, the Department inspectorate as life-changing, given how important it is for children with additional needs. Indeed, the report of the Department’s chief inspector referred to post-Covid regression and how that is likely to persist for a period, and we need to take that into account when we talk about the importance of the summer inclusion programme.

This year, the Minister and I announced the summer programme for pupils and were in a position to secure an additional €20 million in the budget, which will mean schools will have more time to plan the summer programme for next year. Rather than announcing an additional €20 million in May, when the summer provision is due to start, they will now have time to do that in advance. We have built on the first inclusion summer programme, which I introduced in 2021, and now all primary and post-primary schools, as well as special schools, are able to offer at least one summer programme this year and next year. While we have not yet finalised figures, we think more than 1,000 schools ran a programme this year and it is expected more than 45,000 pupils will have participated in both the school-based and the home-based programmes this year, which amounts to an increase of more than 15% on the 2021 figures.

The Deputy asked specifically about the early years sector. Over the past two years, we have endeavoured to do everything we can to ensure all schools will participate in the summer programme, such as by allowing schools some flexibility in regard to staff who are not currently employed in their school, including those in the early years sector.

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