Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 184: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he has considered any potential benefit to small businesses in the child care industry of an increase in ratios per child care staff (details supplied). [14972/11]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Pre-School services are regulated under the Child Care (Pre-School Services) (No. 2) Regulations 2006. Regulation 12, together with the Explanatory Guide thereto, provides for the maximum adult to child ratios which are recommended depending on the age range and type of pre-school service in question.

The Child Care Regulations 2006 were introduced following wide-ranging consultations with the pre-school sector. The adult to child ratios were last examined as part of this process and, as a result, the adult to child ratio for children aged 1 to 2 years was reduced from that of 1 adult to 6 children to 1 adult to 5 children. My Department will continue to keep the regulatory environment for pre-school services under review with a view to ensuring the safety and well-being of children as well as practical considerations for service providers.

I am aware that, along with other areas of the economy, early childhood care and education services have experienced a reduced demand from parents. I believe it is important to support the sector through these times for a number of reasons. Clearly, the State has made a very significant capital investment in the sector which should be protected into the future. More importantly, quality early childhood care and education services are of vital importance to ensuring young children's well-being during this key developmental stage of their lives.

For this reason, I am committed to maintaining my Department's work in funding some 4,500 pre-school services across the country, in effect almost every pre-school in the State, through the three major early childhood care and education programmes which I am responsible for. These programmes, which include the free Pre-School Year, support some 100,000 children and the jobs of up to 20,000 personnel, at a cost of €240 million per annum.