Towards a Better Future

Towards a Better Future: A Review of the Irish School System
Extended Provision of State Aid for ECCE
Traditionally, in Ireland children have been permitted to attend the infant sector of the national
school system from the age of four. Following recommendations from various agencies, the
government introduced the free pre-school year in 2010. This is the first universal state-funded
provision of ECCE in Ireland for children in the year prior to attending primary school. It provides
for free provision for three hours per day, over a 38-week year. Its popularity was immediately
evident when in excess of 68,000 children, 95% of those eligible, chose to attend the 4,200 services
participating in the scheme. The providing services are required to adopt the Aistear / Síolta curricular
approaches. In 2015, the decision was taken to extend the scheme from September 2016. From this
date, children from age three to five-and-a-half
may avail of an average of 61 weeks of ECCE
“
provision in pre-schools prior to enrolment in
primary schools. This has resulted in a further
increase of 60,000, leading to a total of 128,000
children benefiting from the scheme.
In 2014, the Better Start initiative was established
by the Department of Children and Youth
Affairs (DCYA), in conjunction with the DES,
to bring an integrated national approach to
developing quality in ECCE for children from
birth to six years. This service involves a cadre
of skilled and experienced early years’ specialists
working directly in a mentoring capacity with
Following recommendations
from various agencies, the
government introduced the
free pre-school year in 2010.
This is the first universal
state-funded provision of ECCE
in Ireland for children in
the year prior to attending
primary school.
”
ECCE services. These staff are using the Aistear / Síolta Practice Guide as a core approach in their work.
Favourable staff provision is also maintained in DEIS schools, Early Start, and schools in the Giving
Children an Even Break schemes.
In the Programme for Partnership, spring 2016, the government promised a broad range of measures
comprising ‘…a targeted investment approach based on international best practice for young children.’
This is reflective of a welcome prioritisation of this concern, now that the recession has eased. Over
each of the last two years, there has been an increase of 35% in the national budget for ECCE. The
budget for 2017 allocated an extra €121.5m. to this sector, bringing the overall allocation to €466m.
The 2017 budget for the related sector TUSLA, the Child and Family Agency, involved an increase of
€37m., bringing its full budget to €713m. Such improvements go some way to easing pressure on the
early childhood sector, but need to be sustained to answer the needs involved.
Concern has been expressed that traditionally children with disabilities have tended to be neglected
in the provision of early childhood education. A major new initiative in September 2016 was the
Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), which seeks to allow children with disabilities to engage fully
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