Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy and appreciate her engagement on this matter. I think we are all ad idem in our determination that we need to move proactively where we find any gaps in information or support. The Deputy is correct. I have identified the issue with ECCE. ECCE, the early childcare provision, has been hugely successful. It is two years of free preschool care, if you like. We have almost a 97% uptake of that, so it is an ideal opportunity to harness that information and put it to very positive use. We are currently looking at the manner and means of doing that.

Obviously, there are other Departments involved. The Deputy referenced public health checks for children as well as the Department of Social Protection because of the financial supports that are provided or whatever the case might be. That is one of the key reasons I am chairing this interdepartmental group to see how we can best harness the information that sometimes exists almost in silos. We need to have more joined-up thinking in relation to it.

I thank the Deputy for her personal engagement and support on it also.

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