Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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719. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the steps her Department will take to ensure that a child (details supplied) will have access to an appropriate preschool education in their locality. [32438/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme provides free universal pre-school to children in the eligible age range however ECCE is not a mandatory programme.

ECCE is provided by private enterprises, either privately owned or operated by community organisations. Services are contracted with my Department to provide ECCE at no cost to the parent and subject to the programme's rules. My Department has no role in securing ECCE places for children.

My Department funds a national network of City/County Childcare Committees (CCCs) who provide support and advice to parents, including support on availability of ECCE childcare places, as well as assistance for parents on all aspects of childcare.

Any parent experiencing difficulty in securing an ECCE place for their child should contact their local CCC who may be able to assist them in this regard. Contact details for the Waterford Childcare Committee may be found at .

On a broader level improving access to quality and affordable Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare is a key priority of Government.

A forward planning model is in development which will be central to my Department's plans to achieve the policy goals set out in the Programme for Government to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early childhood education and care system, with State-led facilities adding capacity.