Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)

I welcome this motion because it serves to highlight a serious issue which is putting huge pressure on parents, families and service providers throughout the country. In 2006, the Government introduced the early child care supplement to facilitate and support families in caring for young children. To assist with the child care cost in particular, they committed €1,000 per year and then increased it to €1,100 in 2008. However, the Government clearly did not plan ahead or think past the PR exercise. It was easy to make a grand gesture to gain public support during a time when the country was enjoying an economic boom. Now, the parents have grown used to the additional income but the Government finds itself no longer able to foot the bill, which is almost €500 million. In April, therefore, in the emergency budget the Minister for Finance announced that the early childhood supplement would be reduced in 2009 and eventually abolished in 2010.

To soften the blow, the Minister then announced that child care would instead enjoy a year's free pre-school education. It sounds good in theory but, again, is to put the cart before the horse. The new scheme is for children aged between three years and three months and four years and six months, which means that approximately 80,000 children will in theory benefit from the scheme from next year if it goes ahead. How does the Government propose to create these many pre-school places, which would mean that all statutory requirements must be in place in a little over six months? There is huge confusion about this scheme and how it will operate on the ground. It is clear the Department of Health and Children is making up the rules as it goes along.

When the scheme was first announced, very little information was made available to parents and pre-school providers. Even now, almost two months later, it is not clear how the scheme will work into the future. Those who run private crèches and pre-schools are naturally concerned about the implementation of the scheme. There is a serious discrepancy between the capitation grant of €64.50 which is paid by the Government to cover 15 hours child care per week and the current fees some of these play schools must charge, which is up to €90. The Department is effectively fixing the price of child care across the board, which would not be allowed to happen if it was any other business. Private pre-school providers are understandably worried that the grant will not cover the running costs such as have been outlined by many speakers in the debate.

A top-up grant will not be allowed. If a pre-school accepts the maximum number of children it can accommodate under the new grants scheme it will be under huge pressure to stay afloat and pay day-to-day running costs. The new scheme will only pay providers for 38 weeks of the year but staff must be paid for 44 weeks, which will mean there is a shortfall in their salaries as holiday periods and maternity leave are not covered. This could lead to cases being brought to the Labour Court. In some cases, providers have been told to let their staff sign on the dole for the extra weeks, which is a ridiculous situation.

The choice to opt in or opt out of the scheme is also not as cut and dry as the Department leads us to believe. Many pre-school providers cannot afford to opt out because they risk their places not being filled as parents would naturally choose a free play school over a fee-paying one. On the other hand, we have thousands of parents who want to avail of the new scheme but are finding it difficult to establish who would actually be willing to participate in the scheme. The cut-off age point is wrong. It should be from three to five years, which would give children an opportunity to be ready for school in time. The Minister of State with special responsibility for children must be careful not to create a two-tier child care scheme but I fear this is the way we are going, as if the situation was not bad enough for the young parents being hit by increases in income and health levies, PRSI and so on.

I urge the Minister to listen to the suggestions from the service providers and to establish a workable scheme which will not discriminate against children or providers. I ask for fairness and common sense on this important issue. Our children and their future are at stake.

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