Ms Bernie McNally:

I will answer that question as well as Deputy Rabbitte's about the community child care subvention programme provided by private operators. Within our Vote, one small area is looking overspent. We are more than happy that before the end of the year we will be able to manage it within the Vote. That will not be a problem.

Deputy Rabbitte asked about the CCS programme. We rolled the programme out to private services. Approximately 900 community services are already providing the CCS programme. We rolled the programme out to private providers in order that more people could access it. Approximately 750 private providers are now providing the CCS programme, with approximately 1,700 children registered. We would like the figure to grow and it is continuing to do so. There is enough funding available to support further growth in the coming three months. We undertook a major marketing campaign over the summer to try to encourage more families who are eligible to avail of the programme. We expect to see a small continued rise in the programme numbers.

A question was asked about the CCS generally and the number of places released in the budget last year. A total of 3,200 full-time places were funded and approximately 2,300 places have been filled. There is capacity over the remainder of the year to add more children. The single affordable child care scheme that the Minister is seeking to introduce next year will be a far more user-friendly and accessible scheme for parents. More families will be eligible because it will not be linked to social protection benefits and whether people are working as such. We believe we will have greater demand and that will use up all available investment.