Govt urged to safeguard Early Childhood scheme

Leaders in childcare are calling on the Government to protect the care and education of pre-school children.

For the past four years, the Early Childhood Care and Education scheme has given a free year of education to every child of preschool age, paid for by the State.

The scheme replaced the Early Childhood Supplement, and was designed to save the Government over €60m a year.

However as the Government seeks to make more savings in expenditure, fears are growing that the pre-school scheme, which costs around €170m per year, will be hit.

CEO of Early Childhood Ireland Irene Gunning said children will suffer if any cuts are made.

"The scheme is very very good for children at that age," she said, also admitting that "it has kept the (childcare) sector going".