Pre-school may be difficult to access in rural areas

OIREACHTAS COMMITTEE:PARENTS OF children in rural areas who are eligible for a year's free pre-school may have difficulties accessing a childcare provider participating in the scheme, Minister for Children Barry Andrews said yesterday.

Speaking at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children, Mr Andrews said that the free pre-school year will benefit some 70,000 children in up to 4,200 pre-school services across the State.

He said pre-schools would be able to supply more than enough places for children, but conceded there might be shortfalls in some local areas. “There will be some local shortfalls . . . rural areas may well experience some difficulties, but this is a very good business opportunity for childcare providers. Where there are difficulties in rural areas, people will come into the market and it will correct itself,” Mr Andrews said.

In total, pre-schools with a capacity of 96,000 places have applied to participate in the scheme which is due to begin in January of next year, almost twice the number of places that are needed initially.

While some have questioned whether pre-schools will meet requirements over new standards and staff qualifications, he said the great majority of these schools already meet these standards.

In the area of adoption, Mr Andrews was unable to say when a new agreement with Vietnam will be signed that could allow for the resumption of adoptions from the country. He said two major reports – prepared in co-operation with the Vietnamese government and Unicef – examining intercountry adoption in Vietnam go to the “heart of the matter in relation to concerns over adoptions in the country”.

“I would be failing in my duty to protect children if I did not acknowledge and consider the content of these reports extremely carefully before deciding on next steps,” Mr Andrews said.

Separately, the Minister responded to criticism of child protection services and said moves to fill some 270 social work posts will help to improve the standard of care available to vulnerable children and their families.