Welcome to our first e-newsletter of 2014. The new year saw the launch of the new Child and Family Agency - "Tusla". We warmly welcome Tusla's establishment and we wish it success (though we do wish the Child and Family Agency Act had been stronger, especially on the regulation of childminding - see article in our December e-newsletter).

For the new year, we also have a new feature in our newsletter - a "Political update" section that gives links to the latest statements, speeches and parliamentary questions from political parties, TDs and Senators. With local and European elections later this spring, and a general election within 2 years, we will be monitoring what politicians say about early care and education.

We have written to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs on the need for public consultation on a draft National Early Years Strategy, but there is no news about the Strategy yet. Last week did, however, see the publication by the Department of Education and Skills of the final report on the Síolta field test. This newsletter includes a summary and comment on the report.

This issue also has summaries of three important new research studies. One is a review of research on quality in early care and education for under-3s, and one looks at the potential benefits of moving from one to two Free Pre-School Years - both reports have important policy implications for Ireland. We also look at a Europe-wide study on school-age childcare.