Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat. I would like to apologise on behalf of Deputy Ó Caoláin, for whom I am deputising because he is tied up in the Dáil Chamber. I welcome the Minister and her officials. I am pleased that this committee has an opportunity to address these Revised Estimates. Having read the Minister's opening statement, I acknowledge that there are many positives in it. Sinn Féin welcomed the appointment of a Minister for Children and Youth Affairs and the establishment of a new Department. We had called for and advocated such a move for a long time. My colleague Deputy Ó Caoláin has worked diligently on children’s issues. It is fair to say that as an Opposition party we have been constructive and positive on these issues. While the appointment of the Minister and the establishment of the Department came at the worst possible time economically, it could also be argued that in economically harsh times, greater protection and enhanced representation for children is needed more than ever. In that context, the allocation of a budget of €439 million to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in 2013 is modest, albeit an increase on 2012.

As we continue to consider the implications of the Anglo Irish Bank tapes, we must contrast the pouring of tens of billions of euro in public money down that particular drain with the allocation of less than €500 million this year to the Department responsible for the children of Ireland. Some €175 million has been allocated for the free preschool year and for early childhood care and education. In this context, we must address the issues and concerns raised by a recent RTE documentary "A Breach of Trust", which concerns the failures of care in child care facilities in this State. Quite simply, State funding for child care should be more closely tied to strict adherence to regulations. This is essential if the free preschool year is to be extended to two years. The airing of the documentary and the subsequent highlighting of these issues show that breaches of regulations in crèches are widespread, often with distressing consequences for young children. The level of breaches of regulations - 75% - is very disturbing. The high incidence of crèches with inadequate staff numbers and without proper records on staff is very serious. The HSE has admitted that there is light-touch regulation and, damningly, that there is over-emphasis on the business interests of child care providers. This is not surprising given that previous Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats Administrations opted for a model of child care based primarily on private, for-profit providers with minimal numbers of trained staff on low pay. They took the same approach to the care of older people.

The Minister needs to put in place a far more robust inspection regime, including more inspectors and more frequent inspections. It is totally unacceptable that across large swathes of the country, there are no assigned inspectors or totally inadequate numbers of them. It is clear that a review and reform of regulations with legislative change is necessary. There needs to be a fundamental review of the policy of depending on the private, for-profit sector for the vast majority of child care. The training and pay of child care staff needs to be upgraded. It is a sad indictment of this society that carers are so undervalued. I refer to family carers in the home and those who provide front-line care in crèches and nursing homes. The system is geared to ensure private providers make a profit at the expense of low-paid workers. Substandard care is a consequence of that. Sinn Féin has been advocating comprehensive and well-funded child care provision for a long time. In response, the Minister has spoken about new strategies, programmes and plans. Such proposals are all very well, but they will be meaningless in the absence of funding commitments. We are prepared to work in a cross-party manner to advance these issues. The new child and family support agency will take a lead role, but it must be funded and equipped to do so.

I would like to ask the Minister whether the allocation for the preschool year that has been provided for in these Revised Estimates will be linked to better regulation. Will it be more closely tied to proper compliance? What is the position regarding the proposed extension of the scheme to two years? I welcome the announcement by the Minister in her opening statement that she hopes to publish the child and family agency (establishment) Bill 2013 next week. This has been awaited for a long time. We look forward to seeing the detail of the Bill and working to achieve the best possible outcome. One of the smallest allocations in these Revised Estimates is the State contribution of €2.5 million for area-based responses to child poverty. I note the Minister's statement that the bulk of the funding for this programme - €27 million - comes from Atlantic Philanthropies. This covers just three disadvantaged areas in this State, with another three to be added next year.

In this Revised Estimate, we are allocating €2.5 million to a handful of areas to address child poverty, while in budget 2013 a full-year cut of €142 million was made to child benefit, which is the most direct and beneficial payment to families and children in poverty or in danger of poverty. I know the Minister's Department is not directly responsible for that particular cut, but she is part of the Government that imposed it. That cut and all the other cuts that are affecting families and children are regrettably undermining the Department's positive work and its future plans. In conclusion, I would like to reiterate that allocations for the free preschool year should be linked to better compliance. The Minister said she hopes to add a further three areas to the areas that are already covered in the programme. How will the new areas be selected? When will they be announced? I know that an application has been sent in from my home town. I sent a letter to the Minister in support of it. I would be interested in getting an answer in that regard.