Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent)
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138. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the current yearly costs of the programme of early childhood care and education, also known as the free preschool year; the projected costs for its expansion into a second year; if, in view of these plans, he will consider investing in primary schools with a view to delivering the preschool year in that setting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22828/15]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The Early Childhood Care and Education programme was introduced in January 2010 and provides a free pre-school year to all eligible children before commencing primary school.

Despite the challenging budgetary situation, I have succeeded in maintaining the pre-school year as a universal and free programme, ensuring that a significant number of children can avail of quality pre-school services who would not otherwise be in a position to do so.

There is an increasing body of Irish and International evidence which quantify the benefits of early years interventions in terms of improving children's outcomes and in delivering significant economic and societal return to the State. In this context, I believe the introduction of a second year would benefit children's educational and developmental outcomes.

The introduction of a second pre-school year however, would require considerable additional funding, broadly in line with the cost of the current one-year provision, which is €175 million per annum. This additional funding is not presently available due to the financial constraints under which the Government is operating.

It is likely that the introduction of a second pre-school year will be one of a number of options that will be considered by the Inter-Departmental Group on Future Investment in Early Years and After-School Care and Education, which I established in February this year. This Inter-Departmental Group, which includes representation from right across Government, including the Department of Education and Skills, is tasked with setting out a range of options for current and future investment, will consider options to enhance affordability, options to increase the accessibility of provision and options to build the quality of provision and support the sustainability of the early years sector. The Group is expected to submit a series of recommendations to Government in June 2015.