§ Mr. Harry BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress is being made towards the integration of nursery education.
§ Dr. MawhinneyThe Government are committed to encouraging and facilitating integrated education where there is sufficient demand for it from parents. In recent years, however, priority has been given to the needs of children of compulsory school age and only limited expansion of grant-aided nursery provision has been possible. A number of grant-aided nursery schools enrol both Protestant and Roman Catholic children and some grant-maintained integrated schools have non-grant-aided nursery classes. Statistics on the denominational breakdown of nursery pupils are not available.