Ulick Burke (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I thank my colleagues for sharing their time with me and commend Deputy Enright on tabling this very timely motion.

Some might welcome the Government's proposal in isolation but it is only when they link it to the other anti-family cuts introduced by the Government over the past six months that they will realise the scheme was not introduced to benefit children and families but to save money. We are told up to 70,000 children will benefit from the scheme in the first year. We are to provide an average supplement of €64.50 per week per head to provide the service. The reality is that in 2006 the Government introduced, to a fanfare, the early child care supplement. In 2008 it cost €480 million, yet the scheme to be introduced next year is to cost approximately €170 million. There is no indication whatever that the Minister knew the numbers involved. On one occasion there was a reference to €70 million and on another there was a reference to approximately €76 million. Nobody knows. Any Government that introduces such a scheme must surely understand it is but another cutback measure. When it was announced as part of the emergency budget, nobody, including parents and service providers, had a notion about what was happening. Can the Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews, state clearly tonight how and where the scheme will be introduced?

The scheme might work in an urban setting – I say this in a qualified way. However, has the Minister of State ever considered how it will work in a rural setting? The Government is pitting urban against rural once more, thus creating a two-tier system. The Minister of State said the €64.50 per week cannot be capped or increased by people themselves. If so, how are the service providers, who are now charging up to €500 per week, to provide the preschool service and crèche facilities for young children? How will they pay for the staff to deliver the service? There is no indication the Minister even thought of this when introducing the measure. The confusion that has existed from the outset and which still exists today indicates the scheme is badly thought out and will not result in the benefits associated with an early start, as mentioned by Deputy Clune. The mess that has been proposed will be of benefit to nobody.

The Government has slowly but surely withdrawn the €450 million available through the early child care supplement and has replaced it with an allocation of €170 million, which indicates clearly it is not interested in preschool education. Thousands of parents will not be able to avail of the preschool year because of the capped payment, with which I have dealt.

Many problems with the scheme have been identified by members of the Irish Pre-school Play Association. The main one is that the subsidised sum of €2,450 per annum does not cover existing costs. A top-up in terms of specified hours is not permitted by the Minister. This is because it was never intended to subsidise a two-tier preschool system. The Minister of State, when summing up, should indicate clearly that he understands the scheme and will explain it for the parents and providers once and for all such that the ambiguities and uncertainties that exist for so many will be eliminated. I do not know whether he can do this but, if not, the scheme will be a failure. The relevant infrastructure and personnel are not available to deliver the service.

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