Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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111. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if a free preschool education place is available to a person (details supplied) in County Louth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2683/16]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Currently, children are entitled to one year’s free pre-school (i.e. 38 weeks during the academic year) under the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. For the 2015-16 programme year, children who were born between 2 February 2011 and 30 June 2012 are eligible.

In Budget 2016 it was announced that, from September 2016, children will be eligible to start free pre-school when they turn age 3, and can continue in free pre-school until they start primary school (once the child is not older than 5½ years at the end of the relevant pre-school year i.e. end June). As part of the reform of free pre-school, children will be able to enrol in free pre-school at three different points in the year – September, January and April – so that they can access free pre-school as soon as possible after they reach age 3. In September 2016 children born between 1st January 2012 and 31st August 2013 will be eligible. In January 2017 children born between 1st January 2012 and 31st December 2013 will be eligible, and so on.

As the Deputy does not provide the exact date of birth, I cannot be precise as to when the child concerned can avail of the ECCE programme. However, the details and dates above should be of assistance. Further information is available on the Department's website - www.dcya.gov.ie.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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112. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the status of funding for the free preschool year for a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2529/16]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The childcare support programmes funded by my Department are administered by Pobal through the Programmes Implementation Platform (PIP).

These programmes include the Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) programme, which  supports low income and disadvantaged families in community childcare facilities, and the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme providing the free pre-school provision to eligible children before they commence primary school.

Funding for the CCS programme is approved to the childcare service, for the full programme year, based on the level of service the child has been registered for on a particular designated week in October.  CCS services manage their annual budgets based on the level of funding approved for children registered in the service in that designated week and therefore must be guaranteed to maintain this funding for the remainder of the programme year. It is for this reason that parents must commit to the child’s attendance with the service for the period of time they registered the child for.

If a child leaves the childcare service before the end of the period for which they are enrolled they will not be eligible to participate in the CCS programme or any other childcare funding programme for the remainder of the programme year, as it would be considered to be ‘double funding’. If, however, the childcare service is in a financial position to incur the loss of the child’s CCS funding then the service can choose to voluntarily release the funding/child from the CCS programme, in which case the child would be in a position to register for another childcare funding programme in another service.

On registering a child for the CCS programme the parent signs a 'Parent Declaration Form' confirming that all the registration details are accurate and that they are aware that, once they have registered the child for the CCS programme, they cannot transfer the child to any other service or childcare programme without the service provider's voluntary release of the childcare funding.

My Department has been advised by Pobal that the child to which the Deputy refers was registered for subvention support under the CCS programme in a participating community childcare facility. The parents of this child subsequently removed the child from the community service. As I already pointed out the childcare service may retain the CCS funding, unless they choose to voluntarily release it. However, I understand that this particular service has decided to release the funding, and therefore the child may now register for the ECCE programme.