Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Following on from the Minister's comments, did I hear correctly that she believes there will be an underspend in the ECCE allocation for children with disabilities? If I heard that correctly, I ask her to elaborate on why that may be the case. I imagine the learner fund falls under one of the headings between B3 and B6, inclusive. Is the allocation for 2016 likely to be spent by year-end? The Minister may not have the relevant information, but is it possible to get an understanding of the breakdown between level 5 and level 6 qualifications in terms of the people who are applying and the spend on the scheme?

I support previous comments on ABCs. I wish to offer a general comment, which does not involve fiscal matters. I attended a very interesting seminar yesterday in Cork. Along with tackling area-based poverty, we will have to examine the changing nature of disadvantage and poverty. I put a lot of it down to a lack of local authority housing. People with low incomes are increasingly living in rented and insecure accommodation. There was some evidence given at the seminar that supports the view that in some areas disadvantage is becoming more dispersed.

I wish to refer to a matter I raised with the Minister previously for the benefit of the officials present. The forthcoming regulations are very welcome and will come into effect at year-end or the start of next year. They probably should have been considered in the context of last year's budget. There should have been increased funding to ensure that facilities and community settings, in particular, would be able to meet the new regulations. I understand a number of facilities are under pressure.

The Minister informed me that 91% of facilities are likely to meet the regulations, but 9% will not. A number of facilities are now having to make a decision about whether they take on additional staff or cut back on places. A reduction in places is not something any of us would support. This issue should have been dealt with last year. If applications for additional funding are coming in to the Department, I ask the Minister to ensure that services can meet the regulations. They should be looked upon favourably.