Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I want to pay tribute to the CECDE which is now being subsumed into my office for the work it has done. It was only set up for the purpose of developing this quality framework and again it is fortuitous that Síolta is now available to be rolled out and to ensure quality during the pre-school year throughout the country. In tandem with the curriculum and the framework for early learning, these two measures, again very fortuitously, will be available in time for the roll out of this measure.

As regards capacity, I have to take issue with a very ill-judged press release from Deputy Olwyn Enright, where she challenged the view that we would be able to meet the need in this area from January 2010. She based her figures on an incorrect assessment of the staff to children ratio and extrapolated therefrom that we would need something like 19,000 new staff in this area. The correct figures are as follows: extrapolating from the birthrate from 2005-06, if all the children in the cohort enrolled, the figure would be 77,000. Currently there are 15,000 in their pre-school year in community child care subvented scheme provision. It is also assessed that 46,000 children are in pre-school in the commercial sector, giving a total of 61,000. As Members of the House will know, community and, to a greater extent, the commercial child care sector are suffering in the recession because mothers and fathers are losing their jobs and minding their children at home. As a result, there is extra capacity within the system. It is assessed that this extra capacity on the sessional basis, referred to earlier, will add a further 22,000 places. This more than accounts for the number of places that will be required for the roll out of this service from January 2010.

I believe also that it will provide a lifeline for the sector. As I said, the child care sector is suffering from the downturn in the economy. If there are any gaps in provision, which may be on the geographical side, these will be addressed through the efforts of the county child care committees and my office. The benefits of this scheme have been noted by many over the past few years, particularly the National Competitiveness Council, the OECD, Barnardos and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Even the Children's Rights Alliance had something positive to say about it. The provision of this, as opposed to the ECS, is something we will all welcome.

The next step is that next month all pre-schools will be sent information packs and invited to participate. From June onwards parents will approach services to enrol with them and from September 2009, pre-schools will then make returns in anticipated enrolment. We are redirecting €170 million to this measure and, at a time of economic downturn, it stands out as an initiative that shows vision for the future. I am particularly passionate about this issue. The universal pre-school year is a major step in the right direction.

Other steps included the setting up of the EOCP, the NCIP and the provision of places over the past ten years, as well as the setting up of the office of the Minister of State with responsibility for children and the community child care subvention scheme. That infrastructure allows us to roll this out, with the aid of the city and country child care committees and relying on our closer links with the national voluntary child care organisations. The real beneficiaries will be those on the margins, those who do not get into pre-school years. We know that less disadvantaged parents always send their children to pre-school, but those on the margins and the disadvantaged will now have that access and it stands out as a marked measure. I commend this budget to the House.

See this speech in context