Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 October 2025
389. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she has engaged with early years providers regarding possible changes to the daily time allocated to the ECCE programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52630/25]
View answer390. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department has engaged with early years providers regarding possible changes to the daily time allocated to the ECCE programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52631/25]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 389 and 390 together.
The Programme for Government 2025 commits to "Explore making available an extra hour of ECCE each day in the second year of preschool". This commitment was informed by an independent review of the ECCE Programme which was published in October of last year.
During the course of the ECCE Review, representative organisations, pre-school staff, parents and children reported a preference for an increased provision of hours via the ECCE Programme. The evidence from the review suggests that longer hours can have benefits for child development, social and emotional outcomes as well as school-readiness. Additional hours could be particularly beneficial for children experiencing socio-economic disadvantage.
Officials in my Department are developing a detailed Action Plan to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early learning and childcare system which will be informed by stakeholder consultation. This measure is one of a number of measures being considered and assessed in the context of the Action Plan.
