Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

We will make special arrangements next year. I understand the Minister's colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, celebrated and hope he enjoyed himself.

The Minister made several interesting comments on child care and child benefit. He referred to the equal opportunities child care programme, EOCP, which I have examined in detail, particularly as it operates in my constituency, one of the fastest growing areas in the country, and the Fingal County Council area. The Minister, some of whose officials are present, would be shocked to learn of the astonishing administrative costs associated with the EOCP. Area Development Management Limited submitted a bill of approximately €8 million just to administer the programme.

I am sure the Minister will be aware from his own constituency that most community organisations which applied for funding under the EOCP have been so mired in the red tape associated with filling in application forms that take-up is proportionally much higher among private providers than community based facilities, even though the programme is, in theory, primarily geared towards the latter.

A significant factor emerging with regard to child care is the cost differential in crèche charges for small babies and newborns, on the one hand, and older children, on the other. In the Leinster region, the area with which I am most familiar, I have noted that while many professional crèches generally charge €180 to €220 per month, significantly higher charges apply to newborns and young babies because of the understandably high level of care and number of staff required for this group.

I agree with the principle of Deputy McGrath's amendment. Families with children must be offered realistic choices. Rather than doing the commuter run, being stuck in a car for an hour and a half going to and from work, it should be made attractive for families to enable one parent to stay at home longer than the four to six months provided for. It should be an absolute part of policy that every parent of a child under one year has the opportunity to stay at home with the child. Flexibility should also be allowed between the parents as in some cases the father may wish to stay at home.

Most European states have moved in this direction. The Minister mentioned attending ECOFIN meetings. The next time he is in a European airport for such a meeting, he should look at some of the advertisements to see what our European counterparts are offering to young families to encourage them to have not just one but two or three children. He must know from civil servants with whom he has worked that in the Irish child care scenario the cost for one child is expensive but possible. However, for those families with three children, one parent is obliged to give up work or find another career.

I support the spirit of Deputy McGrath's amendment because this is a critical and important issue. Considering the lifestyles many young parents must endure, many are heroic. They have to get up early in the morning to drop their children off at a child care facility before commuting to work. As well as the responsibilities and sleepless nights that go with having children, families are supposed to be fun. Talking to voters in counties Meath and Kildare in recent weeks, I noted many were enduring, not enjoying, family life. It is beholden on every Member to address this issue.

The Minister cannot claim the answer is the equal opportunities child care programme. Can he examine and check the reviews carried out on it? Will he pity the community groups which have tried to fill in the forms and failed? As a consequence, many have not benefited from the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell's largesse. Much spin accompanies the programme. While I welcome some funding as opposed to none, I have grave reservations about the quality of the programme.

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