60,000 Extra Children To Access Free Pre-School Year

Children's Minister Katherine Zappone has secured €6.5m in funding in order to accommodate 60,000 extra children eligible to avail of free pre-school places this September.  As part of the Early Childhood Care and Education scheme, every child in Ireland will now benefit from 61 weeks of free childcare, an increase on the previous 38 weeks. However, there are concerns that the country's 1,006 pre-schools are not equipped to accommodate the influx of extra children. Now Ms Zappone has confirmed that preschool providers will now be able to access grants of up to €10,000 to hire the necessary staff or expand their premises accordingly. The money can also be used to revamp preschool interiors and to purchase extra play equipment. Minister Zappone said parents can rest assured that there will be a place for their child:

"We're getting ready to provide 60,000 extra children to avail of free services starting in September." she said. "The new contract that we are going to be offering to the preschool providers is now on our website, they can take a look at it and sign up to provide the service as soon as they're ready to do so."

The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has also written to all early years service providers advising them to ensure that all of their staff members working directly with children are aware that new Child Care Regulations will require all such staff to hold a minimum qualification of Level 5 or equivalent by December 31, 2016. Unqualified staff members have been advised to commence training as soon as possible.