Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. It was published on Tuesday. We are delighted to publish it. I am delighted to have published it because I asked for this to be undertaken. There is a lot happening in the early years section in my Department. We had a busy summer negotiating another really successful budget. We have been bringing out extra support for AIMS, rolling out equal start and the new DEIS model. I have to prioritise and getting the money for next year was my priority.

We have now published the review. It is an international review carried out by Stranmillis University College in Belfast. Some of the key findings are that the ECCE programme has been meeting its aims in terms of providing universal and free preschool, promoting socio-emotional and cognitive outcomes for children and narrowing the gap in attainment for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. It is clear that this programme has altered early learning experiences and development opportunities for all children, and particularly for children experiencing disadvantage.

I took a number of steps in my term of office even before this was published in order that more people could access ECCE. The first was broadening out AIM support. AIM allows children taking ECCE to get additional support up to and including the provision of a worker.

That used to just be for three hours of ECCE. It has now been extended for the full day. Perhaps most significantly is the equal start and DEIS model for early years and additional supports for children with the most disadvantaged backgrounds. It is important that they can access ECCE. The ECCE participation rate in the Traveller community is about 15% less than in the settled community. On day one of junior infants, these kids are already two years behind their classmates which continues throughout their lives. That is why supporting access to ECCE for vulnerable children, because of socioeconomic disadvantage or a disability, has been crucial for me. I appreciate the work done in my Department by officials in advancing these important targeted schemes.

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