A project which has boosted speech and language skills of young children from Cork’s northside could face closure next year unless it succeeds in securing new funding.

Pre-school education is important and deserves more investment. But tirelessly debating quality standards, crèche inspections, and the capabilities of early childhood staff and inspectors distracts from the obvious — reducing socially generated gaps in child outcomes cannot be the sole responsibility of Ireland’s pre-school education system, and the debate is a smokescreen.

A new education project is encouraging parents in Cork to read to their babies from birth to help develop their language skills.