Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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556. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of Early Start units in schools currently under review with her Department; the reason for the review; if these units are at risk of being closed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13541/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Early Start programme was established in 1994, and is a one-year intervention in a number of primary schools in designated areas of urban disadvantage to meet the needs of children aged between 3 years and 5 years who are at risk of not reaching their potential within the school system. Since the establishment of Early Start, early childhood education and care provision in Ireland has changed significantly. The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) scheme was introduced in 2010, and was extended to two years' provision in 2018. The ECCE scheme is under the remit of my colleague the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

While the ECCE scheme is the national universal two-year pre-school programme available to all children, the Early Start programme continues to run in 40 schools, and in the 2020/21 school year there are 905 children enrolled. Provision of Early Start is monitored across all 40 schools on an ongoing basis, having regard to the cost of provision and numbers enrolled, and Early Start units may also be reviewed in individual schools. There are currently no individual Early Start units in which reviews are taking place.