Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 189: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she has received correspondence from parents of children attending a centre (details supplied) in County Kildare under the early childhood care and education scheme; her plans to address their concerns and overturn the decision to facilitate operation of same as per correspondence forwarded to her Department in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9043/10]

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I have responsibility for the free Pre-School Year in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) scheme which was introduced in January of this year. This scheme provides for a free pre-school year for all eligible children prior to commencing primary school.

I am not aware of specific correspondence from parents of children attending the service referred to by the Deputy. I can, however, confirm that it was not possible to accept the service in question into the ECCE scheme in January 2010 as it was not in a position to meet the scheme's requirements to provide the pre-school year on the basis of either the 38 week model (5 days a week for 3 hours each day ) or the alternative 41 week model (4 days a week for 3 hours 30 minutes each day). I understand that this was due to the provisions of its rental agreement with the local community centre.

To provide for the flexible delivery of the new free pre-school provision, childcare services participating in the scheme can choose to provide the free pre-school year from a range of options. For example a full or part-time daycare service will normally provide the place for 2 hours 15 minutes a day, five days a week over 50 weeks. A playschool sessional service will normally be required to provide a pre-school service for 3 hours a day, five days a week over 38 weeks. However, where for good reason a sessional service is unable to operate over 5 days, it may participate in the scheme by providing a place for 3 hours 30 minutes a day, 4 days a week over 41 weeks.

Further flexibility is provided for in that, a full or part-time service may choose to provide a sessional service over 38 weeks of a year (or 2 sessional services each day) while a sessional service may choose to provide 2 hours 15 minutes per day over 50 weeks. Also in cases where children attend a full or part-time daycare service for 3 days a week only, consideration will be given to allowing the service to participate in the scheme on the basis of providing the pre-school year to those children for 3 hours 45 minutes a day for 3 days a week. In such cases, a service will be required to provide the pre-school year over 50 weeks.

Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 190: To ask the Minister for Health and Children her plans to rectify an anomaly which exists regarding the free pre-school year for early childhood care and entry to primary school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9139/10]

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I have responsibility for implementation of the free Pre-School Year in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) scheme which was introduced in January of this year.

Children will qualify for a free pre-school year place when they are aged between 3 years 3 months and 4 years 6 months at 1 September each year. The application of this age range is being interpreted as generously as possible to include children who are aged more than 3 years 2 months and less than 4 years 7 months at 1 September each year. This means that in January this year children born on or after 2 February 2005 or on or before 30 June 2006 will qualify. Children born between 2 February 2006 and 30 June 2007 will be eligible for the free pre-school year in September 2010. The upper age limit does not apply where children are developmentally delayed and would benefit from participating in the pre-school year at a later age.

While the majority of children commence school between the age of 4 years 6 months and 5 years 6 months, it is accepted that some parents choose to send their children to primary school at an earlier age and the ECCE scheme allows for children to attend the pre-school year and still commence primary school when they are just over 4 years 2 months of age. However, the objective of the scheme is to make early learning in a formal setting available to all children in the key developmental year before they commence primary school, with appropriate age related activities and programmes being provided to children within a particular age cohort. Targeting the pre-school year at a particular age cohort is clearly fundamental to the scheme and it is necessary, therefore, to set minimum and maximum limits to the age range within which children will participate in the scheme each year.

I am satisfied that the age range set for the scheme achieves a reasonable balance between supporting the provision of appropriate age related programmes and activities and providing flexibility to parents and their children and there are no plans to review the position in this regard at this stage.