Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)

I understand FÁS provides support for the child care costs of persons who wish to undertake FÁS vocational training programmes. The rates paid are a contribution towards the costs of child care and payment is made on the basis of the child care costs incurred by the person as a result of attending the FÁS training programme.

The following categories are eligible for payment of the child care allowance: unemployed persons, those returning to work, early school leavers, refugees, members of the Traveller community, people with disabilities and lone parents. The contribution is to be paid to those in the above categories who have been unemployed, unoccupied or working in the home for at least six months prior to commencing the FÁS training programmes. A primary carer of a child or children who needs child care in order to take up a training opportunity with FÁS is also eligible for the allowance. A primary carer is "a person who is not employed outside the home, not attending an educational or training course or not engaged in community or voluntary work for more than 15 hours per week". Workers who have been made redundant may also receive the child care contribution on commencing a FÁS training course.

Eligible training is restricted to specific training schemes, namely, bridging training programmes, specific skills training, traineeships, community training, return to work programmes, community training workshops and linked work experience. Eligible children include children up to five years of age who have not started school and children attending primary school up to 13 years of age and who are in after-school care, with the allowance applying for the hours the recipient is on the FÁS training programme. No payment will be made for the hours the child is at school. However, if a child is still attending primary school after the age of 13 years and a trainee provides documentation to support this claim, the trainee can continue to receive the child care allowance.

In 2001, having received approval to proceed with the payment of child care support for trainees, FÁS was directed to make the payment to the providers of child care rather than the trainees individually. This requirement was based on the principle that the FÁS scheme should be as similar to that already in place within the Department of Education and Science. FÁS reviewed the effectiveness of the child care payment in terms of the progression of trainees in 2003 and at the same time reviewed the internal procedural aspects of the payment. A fundamental recommendation by FÁS staff and management from this review was that payments should be made directly to the trainee in place of it being made to providers of child care. In June 2004 the Department of Finance and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment responded that they were willing to consider payment directly to the trainee if FÁS tightened the payment procedure further and if any new arrangements or schemes had a sufficiently tight auditing system to prevent exploitation. To this aim, the maximum number of weeks for which FÁS will contribute to child care payments has been capped at 52 weeks.

My Department is willing to examine the situation regarding the 52-week cap with provisos on the need to consider the numbers and costs involved, and the impact of certain issues, including the potential ripple effect in terms of monetary and other impacts. In order to progress this, FÁS is gathering the following information: the number potentially affected by the cap; the names of specific programmes or target groups, for example, specialist training providers and community training centres, and also the duration of relevant programmes; the additional costs if the cap was extended — a pro rata formula based on numbers could be applied; the potential impact this would have, for example, if FÁS extends this for particular groups, whether other groups would also be entitled to the same, or, if FÁS extended it to other groups, whether it would have budgetary implications; and any other issues or concerns.

I understand that once this information is to hand, FÁS will present it to my Department outlining the historic context and the reasons for this condition to be reconsidered. There is an undertaking by the Department to review the matter.

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