Niall Collins (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)

I submitted the matter for consideration last week on foot of a heavily attended public meeting in my constituency at the Woodlands House Hotel in Adare. The meeting on the introduction of the new child care subvention scheme was attended by 250 to 300 child care providers operating within the community child care service as well as by parents. The groups in question are grateful to the Government and its predecessor for the capital funding which has been made available to build very fine community-based crèche facilities. A number of crèches in my constituency have received very significant funding, including €1.2 million for St. Coleman's community crèche in Kilcoleman, €1.4 million for Broadford community crèche in Broadford, Charleville, and €1.7 million for Rathkeale community crèche. A further crèche is under construction in Banogue, County Limerick, with a capital grant of €525,000. The funding is very significant. Operators, children and parents benefit from the grants as no capital or mortgage repayments are factored into child care costs.

Interested parties are saying that the subvention scheme has not been the subject of proper consultation and will create an urban-rural divide and that the existing system works against integration. The proposed scheme will compromise job security and lead to high staff turnover with a resultant lack of continuity of care.

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