To ask the Minister of Education, pursuant to AQW 25871/22-27, to detail (i) the amount spent on funding pre-school places for penultimate age children; (ii) any consideration given to using this funding on a universal programme for two to three year olds; and (iii) any legislation that requires a penultimate age child to be given a pre-school placement if requested.

I would refer you to my previous reply to AQW 23664/22-27 which provides the information requested in the first part of your question. The answer is contained in the weekly answer booklet w/e 21 March 2025.

The Pre-school funding for penultimate-age children cannot currently be used for other purposes due to the statutory duty set out in Part V of the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1998.

However, provision for 2-year-olds is being considered as part of the development of an Executive Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) Strategy which I will bring to the Executive in the autumn.