Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will respond to the findings of an evaluation of an Early Years Service that is coordinated by Childhood Development Initiative which showed that in countries like Finland, well-funded pre-school supports can help children overcome many of the barriers that otherwise prevent them from achieving their potential at school; and if she has plans to implement some of the findings contained in the report. [11747/13]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Prevention and Early Intervention Programme (PEIP) is co-funded by the Department and Atlantic Philanthropies (AP) to examine innovative and integrated ways to improve outcomes for children. PEIP supports projects in Tallaght, Ballymun and Darndale. These projects involve a range of pilot programmes to improve outcomes in areas such as literacy, speech and language, parenting, health and pro-social behaviour. These programmes are currently being evaluated by national and international experts.

The Early Years Programme referred to by the Deputy was coordinated by the Childhood Development Initiative (CDI), a participant in the PEIP, and was developed with the aim of supporting and targeting families in Tallaght West whose children may have faced barriers to educational achievement and well-being. An evaluation of the programme found that children who took part in the tailored programme demonstrated improved attendance, behaviour and social skills on entry to school.

The three PEIP sites are expected to participate in the new Area Based Approach to Child Poverty Initiative which my Department will my Department will be introducing later this year. This initiative was announced in December 2012 and is intended to build on and continue the work of the PEIP. It has a funding allocation of €2.5m in Budget 2013 which is expected to rise to €4.75 by 2015. Discussions are on-going with Atlantic Philanthropies in the hope of securing matching funding for the new initiative.

The Initiative reflects the Programme for Government commitment to adopt an area-based approach to child poverty in co-operation with philanthropic partners, drawing upon best international practice and existing services, to break the cycle of child poverty where it is most deeply entrenched and improve the outcomes for children and young people where these are currently significantly poorer than they are for children and young people living elsewhere in the State. New Area-Based Approach to Child Poverty sites will be required to implement programmes which have been shown by rigorous research to have a positive impact on the lives of children.

The Early Years Strategy, which will be Ireland's first ever national strategy for early years, is already under development and is expected to be completed later this year. It is expected that it will cover a range of issues affecting children in their first years of life such as health, including physical and mental development, vaccination programmes and population health issues such as nutrition and exercise, as well as parenting and family support, learning and development, play and recreation and early childhood care and education, including literacy and numeracy.

The Strategy will bring together and consider a significant amount of international and domestic research on the importance of early years for child development, including findings from the 'Growing up in Ireland' study. It will also be informed by the evaluations from the Prevention and Early Interventions Projects, as well as an analysis of existing service provision and associated resources. The major programme of institutional change which is currently underway, including the establishment of the Child and Family Support Agency, will also be taken into account.