The development of high-quality early childhood education for all children should be a major priority for the Government in 2005 and could represent a significant step forward in promoting social inclusion, the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) believes.
Mr John Carr, its general secretary, said there were strong economic, educational and social reasons to develop a national system of early childhood education.
"Over the last decade it has been government policy to encourage increased numbers of women in the labour market," he said.
"Child benefits have improved but they have fallen badly behind rocketing childcare, creche and preschool costs. More mothers than fathers drop out of the workforce simply because they cannot afford these costs. A system of early childhood education would be a key factor in improving equality in the workplace."
However, Mr Carr said investment in early childhood education was about more than simply encouraging increased numbers of women into the labour market.
"The current well-being of our children depends on it, and the future prosperity and equality of our society depends on it," he said.
At several times in the history of the State, long-term decisions had been made which had paid "huge dividends" for Irish society.
"There has been some encouraging progress to date in the area of early childhood education," Mr Carr said. "But we have failed so far to move on to the next step . . . In 2005 we need the development of an integrated approach to early childhood education. There must be public investment to ensure that universal access is a right."
Research had shown that children in disadvantaged schools do as well as their non-disadvantaged peers from first class onwards, indicating that the achievement gap which exists in first class does not widen, Mr Carr said.
"But the difference is that children whose parents can afford to provide early childhood education do better in the early years. Early childhood education is therefore a major social inclusion measure," he said.
"Ireland is a rich country and is getting richer. We can afford the social expenditure because our social spending is substantially less than our European neighbours," Mr Carr said.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Education and Science said: "The Government has established the Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education which is tasked with developing national standards for quality in early childhood care and education.
"It is expected that this national framework will be completed early next year."