Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 253: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she will provide a full year's early childhood education in view of the recommendations of the report by the National Economic and Social Forum which found that children who attend full-day early education programmes are better prepared intellectually and socially for future life. [21331/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Early childhood education in Ireland covers the period from birth to six years. At present, almost all five-year-olds and half of four-year-olds attend junior infant and senior infant classes in primary schools. Provision for children below the age of four is targeted at specific groups. Outside of junior classes in primary schools, my Department's main role in the area of early childhood education encompasses pre-school provision for children from disadvantaged areas, for Traveller children and those with special needs.

The new action plan for educational inclusion, DEIS — which stands for Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools — which I launched on 30 May provides for a standardised system for identifying levels of disadvantage and a new integrated school support programme, SSP, which will bring together and build upon a number of existing interventions for schools with a concentrated level of disadvantage. The action plan aims to concentrate early childhood education actions on those children, aged from three up to school enrolment, who will subsequently attend the 150 urban-town primary schools, participating in the new school support programme and identified as serving the most disadvantaged communities. The early childhood actions under the new plan will be well targeted and my Department will work in partnership with other Departments and agencies with a view to meeting the overall care and education needs of the children involved in an integrated way. A strong emphasis will be placed on adding value to the work of other providers by embedding quality early learning within child care provision.

A survey to assess levels of disadvantage in primary schools is currently being carried out with the assistance of the Educational Research Centre and this will assist my Department in identifying the primary school communities to be targeted for early education support under the action plan. The plan will be implemented on a phased basis, starting in the next school year.

My Department currently funds 48 pre-school classes for Traveller children. In the special needs sector, there are currently 14 pre-school classes for children with autism located throughout the country. In addition, ten stand-alone autism facilities that provide an applied behavioural analysis, ABA, model of response to children with autism cater for a number of children of preschool age. My Department has also sanctioned the establishment of a pre-school for six children with hearing impairment on a pilot basis. A draft of the NESF report on early childhood care and education was discussed at a plenary session of the forum on 15 June. As soon as the final report is available, it will be given careful consideration within my Department.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 254: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of children who have benefited from Early Start from 1998 to date; the number of schools involved; the cost per child; and the cost for each school using the scheme for each year from 1998 to date. [21332/05]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 255: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if her attention has been drawn to the international research showing that preschool education such as Early Start is a significant, continuing benefit for children attending in preparing them for primary school; and if her Department has made an evaluation. [21333/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 252 and 253 together.

The Early Start preschool project was established in 40 primary schools in designated areas of urban disadvantage in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Galway, Drogheda and Dundalk during 1994 and 1995. The aims of Early Start are to expose young children to an educational programme which will enhance their overall development, prevent school failure and offset the effects of social disadvantage. The total number of places available in Early Start centres has been 1,680 in each year since 1996, the first full year of operation, with the funding provided supporting this number of places on a year-to-year basis. The provision involved for 2005 is €5 million.

I recognise that high-quality early education prior to entry into formal schooling can lead to lasting social benefits that persist throughout life both for the individual and for society. Research also indicates that early childhood education is particularly beneficial for children who are disadvantaged and for children with special needs. Parents too can benefit very significantly from involvement in early education through improved self-confidence and better relationships with their children. For instance, the OECD's thematic review of early childhood education and care in Ireland, published in September 2004, concludes that in disadvantaged areas, early childhood services need to be intensive, multi-functional and co-ordinated across services and agencies.

Early childhood education and care is a horizontal policy issue involving several Departments and agencies. The policy implications of the recommendations arising from the OECD review of early childhood education and care are under active consideration within my own Department and also by the inter-departmental high level group on childcare and early education, which is chaired by the National Children's Office.

The new action plan for educational inclusion, DEIS — which stands for Delivering Equality Of Opportunity In Schools — which I launched recently, aims to concentrate early childhood education actions on those children aged from three up to school enrolment who will subsequently attend the 150 urban-town primary schools participating in the new school support programme and identified as serving the most disadvantaged communities. The early childhood education actions under the new plan will be well targeted and my Department will work in partnership with other Departments and agencies with a view to meeting the overall care and education needs of the children involved in an integrated way. A strong emphasis will be placed on adding value to the work of other providers by embedding quality early learning within child care provision.

The Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education will make recommendations on the future development and direction of existing preschool measures for children in disadvantaged communities funded by my Department. The findings of a number of evaluation reports on Early Start prepared by the Educational Research Centre, Drumcondra on behalf of my Department will be taken into account in this regard. The future direction of the Early Start programme will be considered in rolling out the new action plan.