ABOUT 630 EXISTING childcare staff will undertake extra training this year as a result of a new funding allocation of €900,000.
Announcing the monetary boost for the sector today, Minister Frances Fitzgerald said it will provide subsidised support to allow the staff to fulfill imminent qualification requirements.
A further €1.5 million will be provided in 2014 for upskilling and further training.
The pre-school childcare sector has been going through numerous reforms since a Prime Time investigation highlighted widespread problems within creches.
Responding to the programme, the government implemented a Pre-School Quality Agenda, which has seen 1,672 inspection reports uploaded to the Pobal website.
Fitzgerald said that the HSE are at an “advanced stage” of recruiting five more inspectors in areas where gaps were identified, including Louth, Dublin South/Wicklow, Cavan/Monaghan and Sligo/Leitrim/West Cavan.
She said the agenda represents a “building block towards the possible introduction of a second universal free pre-school year” which she has championed.
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