Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 564: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if early childhood resources and services to children on the northside of Dublin will be targeted; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32431/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Early 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. Outside of junior classes in primary schools, my Department's main role in the area of early childhood education focuses on pre-school provision for children from disadvantaged areas, for Traveller children and for those with special needs.

The early start programme is a pre-school intervention programme targeted at three to four year old children in areas of social disadvantage. With this programme, young children can experience an educational programme to enhance their overall development, to help prevent school failure and to help offset the effects of social disadvantage. The early start pre-school project was established in 40 primary schools in designated areas of urban disadvantage in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Galway, Drogheda and Dundalk. There are currently 12 early start projects in the north Dublin area.

Targeted early childhood education provision will be a key element of the new action plan for educational inclusion, DEIS — delivering equality of opportunity in schools, which I launched in May of this year. The plan's objective is to concentrate early education actions on those children aged from three up to school enrolment, who will subsequently attend urban/town primary schools serving the most disadvantaged communities. On a phased basis, the 150 urban/town primary school communities serving communities with the highest concentrations of disadvantage will be provided with access to early education for children aged from three up to school enrolment, who will subsequently attend these primary schools. My Department anticipates being in a position to notify participating schools on the outcome of the ongoing identification process by the end of year.

My Department currently funds 46 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 to this, 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 pre-school age. My Department has also sanctioned the establishment of a pre-school for six children with hearing impairment on a pilot basis.

There are seven pre-schools for Travellers and three pre-schools for autism in north Dublin. In addition, the Rutland Street Project in Sean McDermott Street has been operational since 1969. It caters for approximately 95 pupils aged three to five years and includes a pre-school centre, a special staff teaching allocation, classroom assistants, secretarial services and cooks, together with the provision of school meals.

The bulk of pre-school places in the country are financed by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, which has provided unprecedented levels of funding for child care in recent years. The Department of Health and Children also provides grants to child care groups, including to community groups in areas of social and economic disadvantage.

The Northside Partnership is currently developing an integrated plan entitled "Preparing for Life", which is intended to address the needs of children at each stage of their development to better prepare them for school. The plan involves mentoring and group training for parents to improve their skills, esteem and aspirations for their children. It is intended that the project will result in improved physical and psychological health and better educational outcomes for children at key stages in their development to the point of reception in school.