John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

Fine Gael suggested at the time that it was a pointless exercise and that everyone knew about the payment, yet one of its own Deputies distributed a leaflet giving details of the scheme to his constituents. The Minister of State intends to contact qualified parents in the coming months to be sure they are fully informed about the scheme and inform them of how to ensure a place for their children.

The motion also appears to suggest that the capitation rate should be higher in some parts of the country and, given Deputy Mitchell's previous intervention on the matter, such areas would apparently include south Dublin. However, this is a national scheme and the Minister of State remains unconvinced that a higher rate should be paid in some areas and a lower one in others. While there is variance in the fees charged by different services, the underlying costs do not vary as much as one might think.

On average, about 65% to 70% of the cost of running a commercial preschool service consists of wages and PRSI. Unfortunately, wage rates in this sector tend to be relatively low and anyone who checks the FÁS jobseeker's website for rates of pay in the area of child care will be aware that many, if not most, services operating in the south Dublin area pay between €8.65 and €10 per hour for qualified staff. There are of course exceptions, but this would not be limited to one part of the country. Given that services in other parts of the country cannot pay below the minimum wage, this means that any higher cost levels are based in the 30% to 35% of costs which are non-wage. I am not saying these would be insignificant, but they would not amount to the disparity claimed in some representations made to the Department. It is not the intention of the scheme to provide some services with a higher profit margin simply because they operate in an area that previously tolerated higher fees. The Minister of State does not propose, therefore, to introduce a higher capitation fee for such urban areas, and notes that paying a lower fee in rural areas would undermine another concern raised in the Fine Gael motion, namely, supply in rural areas.

The Fine Gael motion calls on the Government to provide details of the exact number of children who will qualify for the scheme. As I outlined earlier, a certain flexibility has been built into the scheme to enable parents to match their take-up of the preschool year with their child's school enrolment. The Department has already provided a county-by-county estimate of the number of qualifying children to the National Children's Nurseries Association, which is using these to promote the scheme to their members. Given that the scheme was announced only last month and services will be sent their application packs next week, there is no list of participating services at this stage. However, the county child care committees will act as a key local link between parents and providers, particularly in the autumn period as parents seek to enrol their children. A list of participating services will also be maintained on the Department's website.

Many of those reading the Fine Gael motion will be disappointed that such a long motion on early childhood care and education, ECCE, is so silent on matters relating to outcomes for children. ECCE has been introduced as a child-centred measure. The benefit of a preschool year for any child who avails of it is immense, and the benefits for society as a whole are well documented.

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