Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Browne. I know he is taking this matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman. I thank the Minister, who I know is involved in Government business today. He communicated with me yesterday that he could not be here. I thank the Minister of State for agreeing to take this Commencement matter, which relates to early childhood care and education. I suppose that says it all. That is the kernel of the case that I am going to make.

The matter I raise is the early childhood care and education provided at Taney Playschool in Dundrum. There are concerns that the service is due to close because of a lack of core funding. Funding is an issue. Councillor Anne Colgan, who represents that area, raised this with me. We now find that Taney Playschool is going to have to close because of a lack of core funding. I will explain why.

I asked the Minister to make a statement on proposals for funding for the community early childhood care and education, ECCE, scheme. That ties in with the Government's commitment to the Equal Start programme. I understand that within a matter of weeks a policy document will be published on the Equal Start programme. We all know the benefits of an equal start for children in terms of education and learning, including learning through play and interaction. The benefits of the ECCE scheme are amazing. It is brilliant. Everyone talks about how positive it is and how it impacts and assists families who wish to see their children being nurtured in the community in which they live.

In the long term, I would like to see the further expansion of early childhood care and education because it is the right way to proceed. The Government is to be commended on its work but today I want to hear about the core funding. I want to hear why the facility in Taney is now faced with closure. Part of the reason the service is faced with closure is that it cannot offer services outside the current operational hours as it is located in a community facility that has guides, scouts and other community groups coming in later in the afternoon. It cannot subsidise its core activity by providing extended play facilities because there are issues relating to catering and health and safety, and rightly so.

The single funding model does not fit all. Taney Playschool is an example of a private playschool serving local people for many years. The current manager, who has been working there for 11 years, has to tell parents she cannot enrol any more children in Taney Playschool in Dundrum. She is responsible and she cannot enrol people and then not have the core funding to get the facility up and running for September. The line has been cut and nobody else can do anything about it. This playschool is entirely dependent on ECCE core funding and capitation, and we need to know how we can address that. The big chain models serve three or four units offering full-day services across a range of services. They can cross-subsidise their activities with other services but these services cannot. The question Councillor Anne Colgan, the people of Taney preschool and the people of Dundrum are asking is why they cannot have core funding to allow the playschool's particular set of circumstances and excellent services, for which there is a demand in the community of Dundrum, continue. Taney preschool wants to continue. The Government is supportive of the concept.

I would like the Minister of State to address the issue. If he cannot do so today - I appreciate that this does not come directly under his Ministry - he might give a commitment today that he will take it away and raise it with the Minister. I hope we can give some hope to the people in Dundrum and Taney listening in to this, that they will continue to have an early childhood care and education service, which they rightly deserve and to which the Government says it is fully committed. I do not doubt that; I believe it is committed to this. We all know the benefits of early intervention. I ask that the Minister of State respond or at least give a commitment today to take this up with the Minister.