Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 231: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if funding will be made available to provide grants for pre-school personnel who are adding to their existing qualifications in early childhood care and education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34981/10]

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 this year making a year of free pre-school provision available to all children when they fall within the qualifying age range.

Under the Child Care (Pre-School Services) (No. 2) Regulations, staff working in pre-school services are not subject to any requirement in relation to educational qualifications. While almost all pre-school services in the State are now participating in the ECCE scheme, in most cases, only some of the children attending will be doing so under the ECCE scheme. In respect of children in a service who are availing of the free pre-school year, the ECCE scheme requires that staff members acting as pre-school year leader hold a childcare qualification equivalent to FETAC Level 5 on the National Framework of Qualifications of Ireland (NFQ). As a transitional arrangement, during January 2010 to August 2012, a childcare qualification that includes four of the eight core modules that make up the full FETAC Level 5 qualification, will be accepted. Staff working with children under the ECCE scheme, as pre-school assistants, are not required to hold an educational qualification. Funding is not available to my Office to provide grants to persons working in pre-school services to improve their qualifications.