Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I move amendment No. 13:

In page 21, between lines 1 and 2, to insert the following:

"14.—The Minister for Finance may by regulations provide that the tax relief for childminding shall be available to persons who have care of children in accordance with conditions prescribed by such regulations, irrespective of the number of such children.".

I raised this issue with the Minister on Committee Stage. It is a technical amendment to deal with the issue of people providing, in the main, part-time child care to more than three children. The regulations made by the Minister specify three children. While I do not know whether the Minister has had time or has taken the interest to have this issue examined, it has been pointed out to me that for many families child care is about trying to bridge different needs at different times. Nowadays, one of the key issues is the provision of after-school care services, particularly when the mother is working and is obliged to commute. In the case of lengthy commutes such as those previously discussed, she may not return home until 6.30 p.m. Consequently, people often need a bridging after-school care service, lasting for one hour to two and a half hours. Someone who provided such a service on a home minder's basis is unable to so do if more than three children are involved.

This amendment should not pose any great problem for the Minister. Members should bear in mind that although the Minister introduced a childminder's provision last year, he restricted it to €10,000 and consequently the take-up was extremely poor. Most full-time workers in child care earn far more. The Minister referred to the minimum wage. While it has been helpful, the problem with a minimum wage is that it may become a maximum wage. The trade union movement, which opposed the minimum wage for a long time, has always been aware of this point. As is the case at present, this can affect an entire sector and of the 2 million people at work, 666,000 or more earn the minimum wage or are below the tax threshold.

This amendment seeks flexibility to take into account those women who may be home carers and who are doing some childminding to supplement their income. Did the Minister or his officials take the trouble to check out the position? The Labour Party was asked to raise this issue because a number of childminders had this experience.

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