Pre-school regulation in Ireland: learning from the past to improve young children's everyday lives in early childhood care and education services

The development of a system of regulation in early childhood care and education (ECCE) in Ireland was a slow process. Some decades passed between initial calls for regulation and the actual implementation of standards in 1997, reflecting the delay and inaction that has characterised ECCE policy implementation in general in Ireland. The present system has been criticised by some as not being far-reaching enough and a review, originally promised in 2001, is still overdue at time of writing. The question arises as to whether a regulatory system can fulfil the dual functions of, first, ensuring that services are meeting acceptable minimal standards and, second, supporting services to improve quality of provision beyond minimum standards and which promote children's development and learning. This question is explored in the light of discussions with the various stakeholders, recent policy developments in ECCE in Ireland, and the international debate on the relationship between regulations and quality.