Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 280: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the original basis for the age limits of the early childhood care and education scheme; her plans to rectify the situation facing parents where their child's date of birth does not correspond with the current age-range eligibility; if her attention has been drawn to the level of inconvenience the situation is creating for parents attempting to enroll their children in September 2010; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38738/10]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 281: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number of applications received by her Department from County Mayo since the early childhood care and education scheme was introduced; of these applications, the numbers that were approved and rejected by her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38739/10]

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 280 and 281 together. I have responsibility for implementing the free Pre-School Year in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) scheme. The objective of the ECCE scheme is to make early learning in a formal setting available to children in the year before they commence primary school. Services participating in the pre-school year are expected to provide appropriate age related activities and programmes to children within the age cohort of 3 years and 2 months and 4 years and 7 months in September of the relevant year.

The age limits, which span almost 17 months, take account of a number of factors, including the variation in school admission policies and the fact that the majority of children commence primary school between the ages of 4 years 6 months and 5 years 6 months. While exceptions to the upper age limit are made where children are developmentally delayed and would benefit from participating in the pre-school year at a later age, the scheme does not provide for exceptions to the lower age limit and I am not considering any change to this position.

More than 53,000 children availed of the free pre-school provision in the period January to August 2010 and approximately 63,000 children are currently enrolled from September 2010. The latest figure represents 94% of all children eligible for the scheme this year and is an extraordinarily high level of participation after such a short period of time.

Parents can apply to avail of the scheme for their children by enrolling them in a participating service, generally at the start of the pre-school year in which the children qualify, including children who have been approved for late entry to the scheme. The service will ask the parents of children who have been enrolled, to provide the Personal Public Service Number (PPSN) of the children and to sign and return a declaration form which is then returned to my Office for verification of the details provided.

In September 2010, the parents of almost 1,800 children in Mayo applied to enter the ECCE scheme and, in the vast majority of cases, the details provided have been verified as being valid. In a small number of cases the details provided were not validated. This may be because an incorrect PPSN was furnished to the service in which case the parent or service provider should contact my Office with the correct details. Such cases are being processed as they are received.