Pre-school funding must be increased, warns report

IRELAND'S pre-school education and childcare is seriously under-funded, an OECD report warns.

Around 4% of three-year-olds in Ireland receive publicly funded pre-primary education compared to over 90% in Italy, Belgium and France.

The Thematic Review on Early Childhood Education and Care Policy urges increased spending on all services for young people from four months to six years of age.