Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

It will not wash for anybody to talk about the Government's inability to plan.

This budget sets out to improve people's lives by helping the most vulnerable groups in our society. Families, children, the less well-off, the sick and the elderly will benefit significantly from this budget. Surely, that is welcome. I hope no Government of any composition would do different.

Deputy English and I had the honour of being involved in drawing up what I believe is the template for the major initiative on early education and child care, which I greatly welcome. Deputy Jim O'Keeffe was the rapporteur. As long as I am in this House, I will ensure the programme laid out in this document by the National Economic and Social Forum is implemented to the letter and in full over ten years. I compliment Dr. Maureen Gaffney, Professor John Coolahan and the other people in the National Economic and Social Forum.

In his submission to the Oireachtas committee, Professor Coolahan said the report was realistic and feasible and that a wish list of unrealistic aspirations could have been provided, but that would not have been helpful. He said the proposals are gradual, built on sustained progress, and that the idea is to maintain a sustained pattern reflected in the use of a ten-year plan comprising two five-year slots — 2005 to 2010 — with adjustments made to circumstances for the second five years. He said it is believed this target is needed to bring about significant changes.

I welcome the Government's announcement today that an executive agency will be set up under the aegis of the Minister of State with responsibility for children, Deputy Brian Lenihan, to co-ordinate the initiatives in this area. To those who say the additional payment for children under six years of age is not enough, I say this is year one. I read an article today outlining how child care and early education grew in the Reggio-Amelia area of Italy. It started in 1963 and it was only by taking incremental steps in 1971, 1973 and 1980 that it grew the sector of early childhood care and education. It is a pity some of those Members who say they are left-leaning are not around to hear that it is now the envy of countries such as Cuba, Venezuela, Brazil, France and Sweden. This initiative will go down in history as a hugely significant one.

Over-regulation must be avoided and that is why I welcome the €10,000 income tax and PRSI disregard for those who wish to look after children, other than their own, in their homes. We must ensure quality and provide enhanced standards but that is not the same hidebound regulation. The package announced by the Minister for Finance and the resources allocated to the strategy are also very welcome. As I said, the €10,000 income tax and PRSI disregard is hugely important.

Child benefit has been transformed and is now four to five times the value it was in 1997. The new child care cash payment of €1,000 per year for children under six years of age is the equivalent of a €5,000 tax allowance at the standard rate per child. Some €2,800 per child under six years of age will be paid this year. I fully expect this will be built on incrementally. I have no doubt this is feasible and is what families want.

While experts helped us to understand it, we are putting the child at the centre at long last and are moving away from the notion that we are responding to an economic situation which, of course, we are also doing. However, we are primarily putting children at the centre and ensuring they are given the opportunity to develop. American research has shown that for every dollar invested in early childhood care and education, the rewards reaped are a factor of seven, and 14 in terms of the reduction in costs such as the costs associated with early school leaving, ill health, imprisonment and so on.

I strongly support the move towards opportunities for parents to remain at home in the first year of their child's life. I warmly compliment the Minister on the way he has grasped the opportunity to extend maternity benefit. He proposes to do in two years what we spoke about doing in four. The extension of parental leave is also hugely important. The mix of such initiatives will make a huge difference.

Co-ordinating the whole area of child care and early education in one Department will make a difference. That call has been made for some time, including by the Oireachtas committee. I look forward to the day when we have an early education and child care sector which is the envy of the rest of Europe.

The balanced and thorough approach is in response to one obvious fact about child care, that is, that there is no quick-fix, one-size-fits-all solution. If we attempted to tackle the issue in that type of blinkered fashion, we would only insult parents and their children as well as head down the road to failure. This country has been bedevilled by the pilot project syndrome. I am pleased we are adopting a long-term strategy for early childhood education and care in the same way as we adopted a multi-annual, long-term strategy for the disability sector last year and in the same way my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern, spoke about the long-term strategy for housing. That is how this country should develop.

This strategy recognises that parents have differing views about the best type of child care for their children. Some people wish to provide care in the home for a period of time after the birth of a child or for the pre-school years while others wish to use part-time nurseries and crèches while working in the home. Many will wish to place children in the family home setting using the service of family members and neighbours.

The story underpinning budget 2006 demonstrates once again that the public finances remain strong. This strength has been hard earned and this budget shows that we will maintain a responsible approach to ensure our economy continues to bring real and sustainable improvements in public services, social provision and infrastructure.

I was also pleased to see the package dealing with the care of the elderly. There have been significant increases in social welfare pension payments. Naturally, it is gratifying to hear people like Sean Healy of CORI welcome this year's package of measures as going a long way towards meeting targets set out in the national anti-poverty strategy. Older people, like the young, are best cared for in their own home. With the package of measures provided in the budget, that is more possible than ever before. In this budget, we have confirmed our commitment to social inclusion by helping in a real way those who are less well off while at the same time underpinning a very strong economy.

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