Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

391. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will respond to correspondence (details supplied) regarding child care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4616/15]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programmes is implemented by my Department and provides one free pre-school year for children in the age category 3 years 2 months to 4 years 7 months.

The objective of the ECCE programme is to improve children's readiness for entry to primary school. It is considered that the 38 week model of delivery in one school year is the optimal model in terms of ensuring a high-quality early years experience for pre-school children. The Síolta and Aistear frameworks which are central to quality pre-school provision, were developed to support this objective. The current model of delivery also helps to ensure that children and parents become accustomed to the weekly discipline of school attendance with the number of days and hours on which the programme is delivered being approximate to the primary school requirement of 5 days over 38.6 weeks.

Parents of special needs children, who consider that their child may not be able to meet the demands of 5 days attendance each week, can apply to have the pre-school year split over two years on a pro-rata basis, attending for 2 days a week in the first year and for 3 days a week in the second year. Parents of special needs children can also apply for an exemption from the upper age limit for qualification under the programme where a child would benefit from starting primary school at a later age. These exemptions apply to special needs children only and there are no plans to make these exemptions available to children generally.