Margaret Conlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak in support of the amendment to the motion. We have made huge progress in the provision of child care facilities over the past few years. I wish to place on record my recognition of the necessary role played by the many community and private providers of child care. Both have a significant role to play. It is important to note that 80% of child care services do not receive any subvention. Under the EOCP, targeted support was provided through the staffing support grant scheme whereby community-based not-for-profit child care providers with a strong focus on disadvantage were awarded grant aid towards their staffing costs to allow them to offer reduced rates to disadvantaged parents.

Nobody in this House would disagree that we must seek to tackle disadvantage in all aspects of life. I am proud of the efforts made by this Government in tackling disadvantage, particularly in the area of child care. It has facilitated many women who wish to return to the workplace while at the same time providing a valuable learning and social environment for children, who must always come first. Over the last few weeks there has been much misinformation and political point-scoring in this area and it is important that factual information is given to the public. The EOCP ends next month and the community child care subvention scheme is being introduced from January. This will continue to support community child care services to enable them to provide affordable child care to disadvantaged parents.

Contrary to Opposition claims, the scheme has an allocation of €153 million, an increase of 16%, which is ring-fenced over the next three years. That is a clear signal from the Government that we are not going to walk away from our commitment to child care. The Minister introduced a transitional period until July 2008 so that this Department can analyse the information received from service providers. There is a need for this data in order to ensure openness and transparency in the delivery of the scheme. From the outset, the Minister clearly stated he would analyse the data and take into consideration any emerging issues so the scheme would be implemented in such a way as to ensure the optimum outcome for parents and children who avail of community child care facilities. That commitment is clear and unambiguous.

There are many excellently run community child care facilities throughout the length and breadth of the country. Many have always operated on a tiered fee structure, which was the intention from the beginning of the EOCP. However, some have not, and this poses a problem. I argue that it is unfair to apply a fee structure which causes disadvantaged families to pay a similar amount to those whose parents are in full-time employment. These anomalies must be addressed. I look forward to the community child care subvention scheme continuing to support community child care services while targeting disadvantage. I am happy to support the amendment.

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