Government increases preschool funding by €2.5m

The Government has been forced to increase preschool funding by €2.5m over concerns that not enough money was made available to cater for the sheer number of families set to benefit from its new free pre-school year plans.

Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone confirmed the move yesterday after fears were raised by a number of childcare providers over the budget allocation provided to the popular initiative.

Under pre-election plans announced in last October’s budget and championed by former children’s minister James Reilly, the Fine Gael-led Government said it was ring-fencing resources to ensure families received a second free preschool year.