merrion street

Children & Youth Affairs Minister Frances Fitzgerald today said that Government should reassess the overall level of public spending on early intervention programme and seek to increase the proportion of public monies spent on direct service provision for children.

Addressing Seanad Éireann, the Minister said that the current climate of fiscal constraint should not deter us from having this important debate given the increasing body of evidence highlighting the economic and societal returns on investments in early intervention.

The Minister stated: “Early intervention must become part of our national psyche and investing in children’s early years should be an ‘economic imperative’.”

The Minister added:

...we have had a legacy of providing direct cash payments, instead of investing of services.

In 2013 my Department will spend just over €260 million on service provision in areas of early intervention and childcare. This is in stark contrast to the billions spent by Government on cash payments. I think there is a growing acceptance that the spend on direct services represents too small a proportion of the state’s overall spend; a proportion which I believe needs be increased. In light of the publication last month of the Report of Tax & Welfare Advisory Group, what I am asking is: whether we should reassess our overall levels of spending on service provision, in particular on early intervention and childcare services – services which improve children’s outcomes while also supporting parents?

The Minister pointed out that economists have now calculated the return on early intervention to be in excess of €7 for every €1 spent. This includes significant savings in the areas of remedial education, school drop out rates, welfare and crime.

Read the full press release here.