merrion street

Frances Fitzgerald T.D., Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, today (Saturday, 9th April 2011) officially opened the NCNA/IPPA Conference “What Now for Children”.

Speaking at the opening, Minister Fitzgerald acknowledged the enormous contribution made to the early childhood care and education sector by the National Children’s Nursery Association (NCNA) and the Irish Pre-school Play Association (IPPA), both of which had “actively promoted high standards in early childhood care and education for many years”.

She also pointed to the vital role they played in the introduction of the free pre-school year in Early Childhood Care & Education (ECCE), which has seen a 94% participation rate in the first full year of the scheme. In addition to their contribution rates in the scheme, she pointed out that “NCNA and IPPA are also key contributors to ensuring that the pre-school year provides a high quality early learning experience for children providing important supports to their members to the participation in implementing Síolta, the National Quality Learning Framework, and Aistear, the Early Childhood Curriculum framework”.

The Minister complemented both organisations for their leadership and bravery in their reform to a single organisation, Early Childhood Ireland. The Minister said that by combining the experience and expertise gained into the new organisation, they would be in a position to deliver enhanced services to its membership and she commended them for having the vision to create this strategic organisation at this time.