John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I am just going by the CSO figures. One must rely on them because they cannot be interfered with.

Deputy Enright expressed another concern and asked, "How exactly does the Government propose creating 81,000 preschool places in just eight months? Out of thin air?" Her failure to account for developments under the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-2006 and the National Childcare Investment Programme 2006-2010 and to acknowledge the introduction and revision of the child care (pre-school services) regulations and Síolta, the national framework for early learning, is deeply disappointing. Almost 5,000 preschool services are currently in operation in the State and the suggestion that places for the preschool year, irrespective of whether they amount to 61,000 or 81,000, would need to be created out of thin air is unacceptable.

Deputy Olivia Mitchell followed a different tack and argued that the scheme should not in fact be free for parents but that service providers should be subject to the capitation fee and then be allowed to charge what they want in the form of a top-up. Calling fees a top-up, as Deputy Mitchell did, does not stop them from being fees. Most Deputies will recall the widely held view that the funding provided by the State for the first-time buyer's grant was simply added to the sale price of houses. This was certainly what led to its ultimate abolition. Most parents would recognise the potential for this to happen if the same route were taken with the ECCE scheme.

Allowing fees to be charged by participating services would reduce the benefit of the scheme to all families. While better-off parents would probably continue to send their children to preschool, children associated with the unfortunately growing number of families suffering unemployment would lose out. Given that all research shows that the greatest relative benefit from preschool is experienced by disadvantaged children, this would be doubly unfair and would be an outcome over which we could not stand. As I have already outlined, services will be allowed to charge for additional hours and optional extras such as dance classes as long as the other children receive a full programme on those days. However, the principle of this scheme - that is, that children should be accepted regardless of the means of their parents - is one that will not change.

Some of what is contained in the motion proposed by the Opposition does not even make sense. For example, the motion states that the scheme was announced "in the absence of information on the number of participating service providers"; however, services could hardly have applied for the scheme in advance of its announcement.

The exact number of participating services will be known by the start of October, when the application process is due to be fully completed. In addition, a census of preschool services which will be undertaken in September 2009 should yield valuable additional data on a range of issues regarding current service provision levels. While the majority of services will participate, there may be some that will choose to stay outside it, in much the same way as private primary schools do to collect school fees. Many qualified child care workers in the sector have contacted the Department and the county child care committees with a view to setting up new services in anticipation of the scheme. Interest from existing providers is high and a large majority of telephone calls to the Department concerning the scheme have been positive.

The motion also takes the Government to task for not having enough details nailed down from the start while at the same time stating there should be greater consultation with the sector in advance of deciding upon these details. The Minister of State, Deputy Andrews, has met with child care providers and their national representative organisations since the announcement of the scheme as a budget measure, and this has provided an important input into the shape of the scheme and its roll-out. Most of them have been calling for some years for the introduction of a free preschool year and have welcomed the opportunities presented by the scheme. The application packs are due to be sent to all preschool services at the end of next week and will be also available on the Department's website and from the county child care committees.

The motion's call for parents to be provided with information regarding the scheme is welcomed. I recall that when the early child care supplement, ECS, was announced, the current Minister for Finance, who was then Minister of State with responsibility for children, sent a mailshot to qualified parents informing them about the scheme. Fine Gael accused him of wasting money despite the fact that such mailshots generally result in Exchequer savings as some are returned as "not known at this address", thereby allowing for a data clean-up.

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