Written answers

Wednesday, 1 June 2016

Department of Children and Youth Affairs

Early Childhood Care and Education

Photo of Jan O'SullivanJan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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229. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if a child born in December 2012 will be entitled to two years in the free early childhood care and education scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13974/16]

Photo of Katherine ZapponeKatherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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In Budget 2016, my Department announced a significant expansion to pre-school provision under the Early Childhood Care and Education (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. The maximum number of free pre-school weeks to which a child is entitled will depend on their date of birth, and the age at which they start primary school.

The expansion of the ECCE programme will see the number of children benefitting from the Programme rise from around 67,000 to around 127,000 in a given programme year. For the 2016/17 programme year, it is estimated that 89,500 children will be eligible to enrol in the Programme from September 2016, an additional 22,000 from January 2017 and a further 15,500 from April 2017. Accommodating this expansion requires a significant increase in capacity in the pre-school sector; providers need time to implement any needed infrastructural or services changes, or to hire additional staff. The September 2016 implementation date was set to allow pre-school providers to put such measures in place. Should an earlier start date have been chosen, the likelihood is that there would not have been sufficient capacity in the sector to accommodate all children.

In addition, an upper age limit for participation in free pre-school was set by the Inter-Departmental Group on Future Investment on the advice of the Department of Education and Skills. Limiting the diversity in age ranges in primary school is considered to be generally in the best interest of children, in relation to peer interaction in junior infants, as well as other educational considerations. This does mean that different children will spend different lengths of time in free pre-school, but our focus throughout in considering these issues was how to achieve the best outcomes for children.

A child born in December 2012 is eligible to enrol in free pre-school, under the ECCE scheme in September 2016 as this is the earliest entry point after the child’s third birthday. They will not be eligible to enrol again in September 2017 as the child would be over the upper age limit of 5½ years at the end of the 2016/2017 pre-school year (i.e. June 2017).

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