Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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1. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she intends to introduce a second free pre-school year; the evaluation she has conducted of the effectiveness of the free pre-school year;; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22026/13]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The free preschool year in early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme, which was introduced in January 2010, provides a free preschool year to all eligible children before they commence primary school. It is a universal programme with an attendance level of 94% of qualifying children, which equates to approximately 67,000 children.

The free preschool provision was introduced following a Government decision in 2009 to redirect some of the savings arising from the abolition of the early child care supplement. In line with the programme for Government, I succeeded in maintaining the universality of the free preschool year, including securing additional funding of €9.8 million in 2012 to address increased demand due to an increase in births since 2009.

With respect to future developments, I have on numerous occasions indicated my objective to seek to introduce a second free preschool year, which would represent an equivalent saving of approximately €3,000 in child care costs for parents as well as contribute to improved educational and developmental outcomes for children. However, I am conscious of the continuing imperative to deliver improvements in quality in the preschool year that we have.

Recently, the preschool inspectorate for the sector, together with the inspectorate of the Department of Education and Skills, carried out joint pilot inspections of a number of preschool services. While the findings have not yet been published, I understand the pilot inspections found good standards of personal care, relationships and physical and material environments for children's development. They also identified considerable scope for development in regard to planned programmes of activities and their implementation, as outlined in the Aistear and Siolta frameworks, which promote all aspects of children's development. I would therefore like to see development and further investment in a number of associated measures to support quality assurance, staff training, workforce development and inspections. My Department is currently examining proposals in these areas in collaboration with the Department of Education and Skills.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

My Department has initially estimated that the additional cost of providing a second free preschool year would be broadly in line with the costs of the current one-year provision. It is anticipated that the second-year participation rate would not be as high as the current rate. It is estimated that the full cost of introducing a second universal free preschool year, including all associated measures referred to, could be between €175 million and €200 million.

As a building block towards a possible second free preschool year, my Department is continuing to work and invest in improving quality standards and workforce capacity. Future developments relating to early years care and education will be considered during the preparation of the new national early years strategy, which is currently being developed by my Department and will be published later this year.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for her reply. She is right in saying this scheme has been highly successful in terms of participation, but participation alone cannot be used to measure the success of the scheme. I welcome the Minister of State's announcement that a pilot programme has been carried out examining the standards that are being applied. She might elaborate on the depth of analysis carried out into educational development outcomes for the children. We need to examine raising our quality standards. We can only do that by professionalising the child care sector and ensuring that service providers are facilitated in undertaking continuous professional development to ensure they are adequately qualified, because this scheme is being delivered at such an important stage in a child's life.

Does the Minister believe there is the capacity currently to offer a second preschool year, or would it require an expansion of the capital programme? What level of consultation has she engaged in with service providers and parents on providing a second free preschool year?

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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We need to examine the various building blocks that would be required if we were to establish a second year. As the Deputy said, the quality issue is one that we have to address and there are a variety of ways to do that. We have to examine outcomes. From the research available in this country, the outcomes of early intervention are very good. We know the research is available internationally, but increasingly we have Irish research on early intervention. The centre for effective studies is co-ordinating that research, which is coming in from, for example, the three pilot project areas in Dublin which were funded by Atlantic Philanthropy and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. We are getting details of the interventions that are most effective in working with preschool children.

The best way to assess how children are doing in preschool is longitudinally, by noting how they do when they enter primary school. The Deputy will know that there is universal praise for the impact the preschool year has had in terms of children being better prepared and better able to learn when starting in primary school. The longitudinal studies we are doing under the Growing Up in Ireland study - I have recently agreed funding for the five and half year old cohort - will tell us how the children who have had the experience of preschool do when they reach the age of five and a half. That is very important as well. There is ongoing research, and we will continue it, to find out precisely how the children who have had access to the preschool year are doing.

In terms of capacity, there are issues that need to be addressed, including workforce capacity and quality standards. The sector has universally said that it would like a second preschool year but clearly there are a range of issues to be addressed as we move towards the provision of a second year.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I advise Deputy Troy that one minute is the new time limit that applies.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I agree that early intervention is very good and there are a plethora of surveys and research to back that up. I asked in particular about the pilot analysis that is being done now. When will we have the results of that? How broad is that analysis from a geographical perspective and how deep is it?

In regard to the cost associated with a second preschool year, does the Minister concur with her Cabinet colleague, Deputy Quinn, who earlier this week said that we need to start a debate about redirecting the direct payment of child benefit into this area for the provision of a second preschool year? We had this conversation previously at an Oireachtas committee, where the Minister quite rightly raised concerns about removing this direct payment, and I agree with her on that, because many families rely heavily on it. Is the Government going to look at redirecting payments in respect of older children in lower- and middle-income families to support this new venture? The Minister might enlighten us in that regard.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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There are a range of financial issues that need to be addressed. I remind the Deputy, for example, that the Mangan report, which examines the interaction between the tax and welfare system and addresses some of these issues, is currently being examined by the education committee. I await the outcome of those discussions at the committee. Clearly, any decision in regard to child benefit is a budgetary issue and comes primarily under the remit of the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton.

In terms of the funding of a second preschool year, a range of steps would need to be undertaken as we move towards the development of a second year.

There are several issues about workforce capacity which we need to address, questions of quality and standards which the Deputy has raised. My Department is examining each of these issues relating to the one year we already have but also to providing a second year. One has to have regard to the €1 billion a month that we continue to borrow and to the fiscal situation and overall economy. I welcome the comments of the Minister for Education and Skills. It is important to have this discussion about the services we should be providing in the early years, and the early years strategy which I hope to publish in July should give us a framework for addressing those issues.