Chris Andrews (Dublin South East, Fianna Fail)

If Members have a difficulty with what Fintan O'Toole said, they should raise the issue with him. I was interrupted when I said he said that if we had the commitment, we had intelligent government. He went on to say we could therefore expect to see a similar approach in other areas. I think that is true. We can expect to see a similar approach and innovative decisions being made.

The Labour Party's most recent policy document on child care and preschool education dates back to approximately 2005 and probably needs some dusting down. That document argued for an early year's care subsidy that would cost over €1 billion per annum and also wanted a year of preschool education costing €163 million per annum. When those documents are dusted down, the Labour Party will realise our current proposal is a good and innovative scheme.

A significant number of community child care facilities are in place. For example, not far from here we have the St. Andrew's Resource Centre and the centre at City Quay. These provide an excellent service for young people and have given a broad welcome to this proposal. We have yet to see the detail, but if people try to work with the proposal we will see positive results. The recent National Competitiveness Council report on education and training suggests that pre-primary education is a key determinant of student performance at all levels of education, as it leads to improvements in students' skill levels, motivation and the propensity to learn, which in turn raise the private and social returns from all future investments in their education.

The scheme, therefore, is about ensuring that children get care at an early stage. People from disadvantaged areas or areas where children are at risk of becoming involved in antisocial behaviour often say they spotted this when a child was as young as three years old. We need intervention when the child is that age. This scheme is part of early intervention and of ensuring that children get a good start in life so that they are well prepared to go into more formal education later. The real winners from this scheme will be the more disadvantaged and marginalised children in society who do not currently benefit from preschool care and education.

Barnardos and the Children's Rights Alliance have welcomed this scheme. In a debate on the issue, the Children's Rights Alliance asked what costs more, maintaining and developing early years education or not doing so at all. For every euro spent on early years education, a return of up to €7.10 can be expected. Investing in such education has proved effective in the long run in terms of promoting social skills, improving the life chances of children born in disadvantaged communities and reducing criminal activity. What could be a smarter investment? These comments were made on Thursday, 2 April and the situation has not changed since. We must give our children the best chance in life that we can.

For a child brought up in a chaotic family, going to child care providers might be a respite. We used to send my two children to pre-school for three hours per day. It was beneficial for them because they learned how to socialise and about boundaries. It prepared them for primary school.

I welcome the Bill. The reduction in the rent supplement is good, as it will ensure that landlords cannot hold the Government and the economy to ransom. I happily support the Bill, which is imaginative and clever governance.

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