Extra hour of ECCE would make a huge difference to parents – Currie

The Minister for Children should consider extending the Government’s free pre-school programme by an extra hour as part of Budget 2026, a Fine Gael TD has said.

Fine Gael Spokesperson on Childcare, Emer Currie said extending the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Scheme from three hours to four would be a big help to working families.

Deputy Currie said: “The current ECCE Programme provides 3 hours of free pre-school per day, 5 days a week over the school year.

“The ECCE Programme has been a great success and enjoys participation rates of 96% each year. Over 70% of families on low income report that they would not be able to send their child to pre-school without this Programme.

“Providing a fourth hour of ECCE would help ease the burden on working parents and provide them with more flexibility.

“While the ECCE scheme itself is free, I know many parents who are already paying for additional hours – this would help ease the pressure on hard-pressed families.

“The Programme for Government commits to examining an extra hour of ECCE each day in the second year of pre-school. I have raised the matter with Minister Foley who has confirmed the estimated cost of this measure would be in the region of €38million.

“We know early childhood education is critical and an extra hour would also be beneficial for a young child’s social and learning development and I think this is something Government should strongly consider as part of the forthcoming Budgetary process.”