Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I discussed this matter with the Minister of State many times in the past month, including during Adjournment debates. I am sure he is well aware that a series of public meetings have been taking place across the country. There was one in Cork last week and there was also one in Donegal. These meetings reflect the real concern that is out there regarding the proposed changes in the community child care scheme, particularly changes to staffing grants.

The community child care facilities have worked extremely well. I represent a constituency which contains a number of RAPID areas and the community child care providers I talk to work in RAPID areas. The child care facilities have proved to be extremely valuable. They are certainly doing what they are supposed to do in that they give those who are welfare dependent the opportunity to move on by availing of education and joining the workforce. The problem that has been highlighted is that of parents on low incomes who will be excluded from using these facilities and will therefore once again become welfare dependent. Thus, the new scheme will reverse the progress that has been made by removing the supports that were previously available.

Generally, mothers are the people who depend on child care to get out to work. People on low incomes who are working in supermarkets, department stores or the major shopping centres that have sprung up around our cities depend on community child care to allow them to go to work. If a person is coming home with €200 per week and her child care costs are €100, that is 50% of her take-home pay. If she is coming home with €400, that is 25% of her take-home pay. The cost of child care in real terms is extremely high. I do not have a problem with this as it is important that we have high quality staff and facilities. We certainly cannot avoid those costs and we need to invest in child care. However, we need to support people to allow them to enter the workforce and we need to support low-income workers. If people were allowed to include their child care costs to qualify for family income support the door would be open to many more people to avail of community child care facilities.

The Minister has extended the programme to July. Listening to the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, Deputy Cullen, last week, I got the impression that there were to be changes to the scheme. There is an expectation that some changes will be made so I recommend that the Minister come forward with these sooner rather than later to avoid uncertainty and anger and to put the scheme on a proper footing so that people can move forward in the knowledge that there is certainty and that these valuable community facilities will continue to be available.

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