Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

157. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs why the extension to the early childhood care and education scheme is not scheduled to commence in January 2016, rather than in September 2016; the amount of money that will be saved as a result; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41910/15]

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

At present, children qualify for the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme when they are within the qualifying age range which is 3 years and 2 months to 4 years and 7 months in the September of the relevant year.

The recent Budget decisions, which introduced an extended provision under the ECCE programme that allows children to access the free pre-school programme from the time they are 3 years of age until they start primary school, come into effect from September 2016. This extended provision, when fully rolled out, will mean that children will have access to free education - either in pre-school or primary school - from the age of three.

The start up date for the introduction of this new measure was decided so as to allow pre-school providers an adequate timeframe to make any necessary infrastructural or service changes and to put in place extra staff resources to accommodate the additional numbers benefitting from the programme, which is estimated to increase from 67,000 to 127,000 in a given programme year. The extension to this programme will cost an additional €47 million in 2016. The full year additional costs of this extended programme will be in the region of €114 million.