Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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950. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the safeguards the State has put in place to ensure there is fair and equitable admissions to preschools for applicants; if there is any legal certainty for parents who have been awarded a place and then told they cannot get a place; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26561/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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The Early childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme is administrative in nature, and as such, ECCE enrolments are not offered on the basis of legislative or statutory provisions. However, any scheme funded by Government must have a strong governance regime in place to ensure taxpayers’ money is spent appropriately. From the inception of ECCE, services that have chosen to provide it have been required to sign a contract known as the ‘Grant Funding Agreement’.

Each pre-school provider is free to determine their own admission policies, once these are within the terms of the ECCE Programme, as set out in the Grant Funding Agreement. Contained within this agreement is a stipulation that providers must comply with relevant legislation and regulations, as follows:

4.1. The Registered Provider agrees to comply with all relevant legal and regulatory requirements, including, without limitation, regulations made under the Child Care Act 1991 (as amended, including by the Child and Family Agency Act 2013), planning legislation, fire safety legislation, employment legislation, the Equal Status Acts 2000 to 2015, health and safety legislation and the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003 in the operation of the Pre-School Service.

Places provided under the ECCE programme by the Registered Provider must meet the requirements in terms of length per day, days per week and weeks per year (i.e. 3 hours per day, 5 days per week and 38 weeks per year). As it is not mandatory for children to attend every day, service providers can prioritise places for children where parents indicate a greater level of attendance.

Where parents have been refused a place or are unable to find one, they should contact their local County Childcare Committee (CCC) for advice and assistance in locating a suitable place.The CCC can then bring any issues of concern to the attention of my Department.