Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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134. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs his plans to reform the early childhood care and education scheme; if he will make the conditions of the scheme more flexible; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9013/16]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme currently provides one free pre-school year to children who are in the age range 3 years 2 months to 4 years and 7 months in September in the year of enrolment. It was the case that only children who satisfied the age criteria in September could access the programme during the following school year.

In Budget 2016, I announced a significant expansion the pre-school provision under the ECCE programme. This measure, which will be introduced from September 2016, means that children will be eligible to start free pre-school when they reach the age of 3, and continue to avail of free pre-school until they start primary school (once the child is not older than 5½ years at the end of the pre-school year i.e. end June). Following the introduction of the expanded programme there will be three opportunities each year - in September, January and April - for eligible children to enrol for the free pre-school provision. This will ensure that children aged 3 or over have the opportunity to enrol as soon as possible after their third birthday.

This extension of the Programme will increase the number of children availing of free pre-school from about 67,000 p.a to 127,000 in a given programme year.

I was conscious also of the difficulty experienced by some children with a disability in accessing and benefiting fully from the ECCE Programme. To address this issue, I announced in Budget 2016 the necessary funding to implement a new practical, workable model for meeting the needs of children with a disability. The model will deliver seven levels of support to enable the full inclusion and meaningful participation of children with disabilities in the ECCE Programme. These are:-

i.An Inclusive Culture

ii. Information for Parents and Providers

iii. A Qualified and Confident Workforce

iv. Expert Educational Advice & Support

v.Equipment, Appliances and Minor Alterations

vi. Therapeutic Intervention

vii. Additional Assistance (where the supports available at levels 1-6 are not sufficient to meet a child’s needs).

Work on the detailed design and implementation of the new model for meeting the needs of children with a disability is at an advanced stage. The view is to introduce the initiative from September 2016. It is intended that service providers and parents will be able to submit applications for supports under the new model from June 2016 onwards to allow them to plan for pre-school enrolment in September 2016 and to ensure that children will begin to benefit from these measures from that point forward.

The new measures which I am introducing will ensure that all children in Ireland from the age of 3 years will be able to access free education, either in pre-school or in primary school, which is a significant step forward for children and families.