Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 154: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will allow a child (details supplied) in County Cork, enroll under the early childhood care and education scheme for September 2010; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19578/10]

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

Children qualify for the scheme where they are aged more than 3 years and 2 months and less than 4 years and 7 months at 1 September each year. This means that children born between 2 February 2005 and 30 June 2006 qualified for the scheme in January 2010 and children born between 2 February 2006 and 30 June 2007 will qualify in September 2010. From the information provided by the Deputy, I understand that the child in question qualified for the scheme in January of this year but will be over the upper age limit for eligibility in September 2010.

The scheme allows for exceptions to the upper age limit in situations where a child cannot start primary school until s/he is more than 5 years 6 months of age, due to either the enrolment policy of the local schools or having been assessed by the Health Service Executive (HSE) as being developmentally delayed or having a physical or sensory disability which prevents the child from availing of age-appropriate education.