The Department of Education (DE) in Northern Ireland currently funds 43 Irish-medium pre-school settings (14 statutory nursery units in primary schools and 29 voluntary/private pre-school settings) within the Pre-School Education Programme, with an aggregate enrolment of 885 children. In line with the drive to raise standards in pre-school education, and in order to ensure a consistent approach with English-medium pre-school settings, DE will fund Irish-medium pre-school support services in the north. Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta (CnaG) will now secure the provision of support services to the Irish-medium pre-school sector (defined as settings within the Pre-School Education Programme) for a period of up to 3 years, including appropriate break clauses, through a public procurement exercise in line with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The aim of the contract is to engage a Provider who will effectively deliver support services to the Irish-medium pre-school sector (defined as settings within the Pre-School Education Programme).