Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 57: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans for implementing the new literacy and numeracy strategy as it applies to the preschool and early education sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26061/11]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Literacy and Numeracy Strategy was launched by my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, in July of this year. The Strategy's publication is a milestone in the development of the early years sector in Ireland, as it recognises the central role played by experiences in early childhood in the development of literacy and numeracy skills.

Early intervention is crucial and the Strategy provides for a range of actions to support pre-school children and their families, to be undertaken by my Department. These actions include encouraging and supporting the upskilling of early childhood care and education (ECCE) practitioners. A key element of this will be to support the implementation of the Workforce Development Plan by the Early Years Education Policy Unit of the Department of Education and Skills, which is co-located within my Department. The Workforce Development Plan provides a framework for ensuring that personnel working in the ECCE sector have access to accredited training, enabling quality and standards in ECCE services to be continuously improved.

As the Free Preschool Year has just completed its first full year of operation, we have also begun to collect data on the scope and nature of practice in ECCE settings. A number of research and development activities are planned to inform the optimum strategies through which to progress the objectives of the literacy and numeracy strategy in early childhood settings.