Frances Fitzgerald TD, Minister for Children & Youth Affairs has today announced details of the establishment of an Expert Group to advise on the preparation of Irelands first-ever Early Years Strategy. Preparation of this Strategy was recently agreed by Government.
Minister Fitzgerald today addressed the National Conference of Early Childhood Ireland and also launched National Childminding Week 2012, organised by Childminding Ireland.
The Group will be chaired Dr. Eilis Hennessy of the School of Psychology in UCD and will bring together experts, both practice-based and academic, in the areas of early years education, children’s development, psychology and health as well as social inclusion and service provision (full membership listed below).
Minister Fitzgerald stated: “This Expert Group brings together a wealth of knowledge and expertise to guide the preparation of Irelands first-ever Early Years Strategy.”
“I see this Strategy as an innovative and dynamic strategy for the future development of Ireland’s Early Years sector, providing a timely opportunity to bring about a more coherent approach to improving the lives of children from birth to age six while harnessing the often understated potential which investment and intervention in early years offers to the future economic and social development of the state. I am separately establishing an inter-departmental working group to input into the strategy and to bring a collaborative whole of government approach to issues such as access to childcare for parents returning to work.”
Some of the issues envisaged for inclusion in the new Strategy:
Enhancing the quality of early childhood care and education and of childminding;
Improving educational outcomes including progressing the objectives of the Literacy and Numeracy Strategy;
Improving health and physical fitness outcomes including in response to findings from the ‘Growing up in Ireland’ Study showing the worrying problems of overweight and obesity among Ireland’s 3-years olds;
Providing assessable and affordable childcare places to support parents to return to work, in line with the Government’s “Pathways to Work” initiative;
Examining approaches to providing targeted early childhood programmes for disadvantaged children;
Increasing positive parental engagement in early childhood care and education.
End.
NOTE:
Membership of Early Years Expert Advisory Group.
Dr. Eilis Hennessy, School of Psychology, UCD
Prof. Alf Nicholson, Children’s University Hospital, Temple Street
Prof. Noirín Hayes, DIT
Roisin McGlone, Sligo IT
Breda McKenna, Monaghan County Childcare Committee
Patricia O’Dwyer, Public Health Nursing Consultant
Siobhan Feehan, Deansrath Family Resource Centre, Clondalkim
Fr. Gerard O’Connor, St. Ultan’s Project, Cherry Orchard
Catherine Byrne, Atlantic Philanthropies
Irene Gunning, Early Childhood Ireland
Patricia Murray, Childminding Ireland
Fergus Finlay, Barnardos