The new Programme for Government contains several positive commitments for young children (such as maintenance of the Free Pre-School Year and the development of areabased initiatives) and a number of education commitments (on educational outcomes, literacy, and equity in education) which may have positive implications for young children.

There are also a number of respects in which we believe the Programme for Government could have gone further, in spite of the economic and budgetary situation the Government faces – or perhaps because of it.