Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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220. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the estimated cost of increasing the number of weeks of the ECCE scheme by increments of two weeks up to 52 weeks per year in tabular form. [8610/19]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme provides for a programme of early learning for children before commencing primary school.

With effect from September 2018, all children meeting the minimum age requirement of 2 years and 8 months will be eligible for a full two programme years on the ECCE scheme. This further enhancement delivers fully on a commitment in the Programme for a Partnership Government that is good for children and families.

The current academic year runs for 38; weeks; the following table shows the cost of increasing the number of weeks available to children in 2019, based on estimated registration figures:

Table 1: Cost of increasing ECCE academic year by increments of 2 weeks