Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 339: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the position regarding funding projects dealing with pre-school children in disadvantaged areas on the north side of Dublin; and her plans to invest in early childhood education in 2006. [4755/06]

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 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.

A Government decision was made in December 2005 to establish an Office of the Minister for Children. The decision to establish the Office of the Minister for Children will bring together the relevant staff working on the range of functions in the Departments of Health and Children, Justice, Equality and Law Reform, and Education and Science to maximise the co-ordination of policies for children and young persons. A new early years education policy unit has been established in my Department, and it will be co-located in the Office of the Minister for Children in accordance with the Government decision.

The Early Start programme is a pre-school intervention programme targeted at three to four year old children in areas of social disadvantage. With that 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.

The new action plan for educational inclusion, DEIS, delivering equality of opportunity in schools, which I launched in May 2005, aims to concentrate early childhood education actions on those children, aged from three up to school enrolment, who will subsequently attend the 150 urban or town primary schools, participating in the new school support programme, and identified as serving the most disadvantaged communities. The identification process is nearing completion, and we anticipate being in a position to issue an invitation to selected schools to participate in the new integrated school support programme shortly.

My Department currently funds 46 pre-schools for Traveller children, with 48 pre-school classes. In the special needs sector, there are currently 15 pre-school classes for children with autism located throughout the country. In addition, 12 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 Seán McDermott Street has been operational since 1969. It caters for approximately 95 pupils aged from 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 has developed an integrated plan entitled "Preparing for Life" which is intended to address the needs of children at each stage of their development to prepare them better for school. The plan involves mentoring and group training for parents to improve their skills and esteem and their aspirations for their children. It is intended that the project 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. The proposal is currently being examined by my Department.

The Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education was established in 2002 to develop and co-ordinate early childhood education and to advise the Department on policy issues in the area. The centre has drafted a quality framework for early childhood education which is currently under consideration in my Department.

Decisions of a policy nature relating to early childhood education will now be pursued as part of the overall strategic policy framework developed by the Office of the Minister for Children.