The Minister for Education says the government is examining the possibility of using money from the child benefit payment to extend the free pre-school year.

Ruairi Quinn says €2 billion is spent on child benefit payments every year. The Minister says that he, along with the the Children's Minister and the Minister for Social Protection are examining how best to spend that money.

He said transferring some of the child benefit bill into pre-school education could shorten the gap between well educated and poorly educated children.

He said an extra year of pre-school education focused on disadvantaged children would see a child’s prospects 'significantly enhanced'.

The overall spend would remain the same. But Minister Quinn says extending early education schemes may benefit children more in the long run.