Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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353. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will provide a clear timeframe for an early years strategy that will move Ireland from an investment position of 0.2% to 7% of gross domestic product per year on early childhood education; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8857/15]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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My Department supports the provision of early childhood care and education by providing annually in the region of €260 million to provide for three childcare support programmes that make childcare services more affordable and ensure that more than 100,000 children have access to quality childcare. This high level of support has been maintained despite the difficult budgetary situation that prevailed in recent years.

I wish to point out to the Deputy that, while the annual spend by my Department on childcare related programmes has been in the region of 0.2 per cent of GDP in recent years, there is expenditure by other Departments that relate to childcare provision. The largest element of this would be expenditure by the Department of Education and Skills on Junior and Senior Infants within primary schools and on the Early Start programmes in disadvantaged schools. When the full expenditure on preschool provision is taken into account, Ireland spends about 0.4% of GDP on childcare provision.

It is clear that accessibility, affordability and high quality childcare can play a critical role in achieving a number of Government priorities, including improving educational outcomes for children, reducing poverty and increasing parents' participation in the labour market.

I would like to be in a position to increase our investment in childcare-related programmes to be in line with the OECD average as resources allow. This will take time, as the benefits of growth generate the required resources. However, I am determined that all such spending, whether existing or additional, will be based on good evidence and co-ordinated strategically, so that we achieve the best possible benefits for children.

To this end, I have established an Inter-Departmental Group which will look at the provision right across the 0 to 6 age group as well as to consider the after-school needs of older school-going children. This new Group will include representatives of the Department of Education and Skills, the Department of Social Protection, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the Department of Finance and the Department of the Taoiseach and will be led and supported by my Department. I have asked the Group to report to me by the Summer.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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354. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs his views on concerns (detailed supplied) that the entry rules for the free preschool year and primary school may incentivise parents, particularly in disadvantaged areas, to bypass the free preschool year and put their child into primary school as soon as the child turns four years of age, with the result that the child will miss out on the benefits of the free preschool year. [9037/15]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Children qualify for the free pre-school provision when they are within the qualifying age range which is 3 years and 3 months to 4 years and 7 months in the September of the relevant year. This means, for example, that children born between 1st July and 31st August 2011 qualify in the school year commencing in September 2015. There is no provision under the programme to enrol children who are below the qualifying age.

The objective of the ECCE programme is to make early learning in a formal setting available to eligible children in the year before they commence primary school. To achieve this, services participating in the pre-school year are expected to provide age-appropriate activities and programmes to children within a particular age cohort. For this reason, it is appropriate to set minimum and maximum limits to the age range within which children will qualify. I am satisfied that the qualifying age range for entry to the programme provides the optimum opportunity for children to participate in pre-school education and there are no plans to amend the age range at this time.

Situations will arise where children qualifying for the free pre-school provision are also eligible to commence primary school, and in such situations it is a matter for parents to decide on which option they wish to avail of.