Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Last year, the reduction in the qualifying age of children for payments to lone parents was one of the most significant issues discussed in the Dáil. There was an outcry from all the children's organisations that this was happening and lone parent groups came out to protest at this change. The Minister, to stave off the attack on her Bill, gave a commitment that she would not make the changes in reducing the qualifying age unless we had Scandinavian style child care facilities in this country.

We see that an additional 6,000 child care places will be provided for after school primary children. This will probably help approximately 5,000 lone parents and people on low wages. This is not a Scandinavian style child care facility. What people expected to see was a complete reform of child care and of where and who it targeted. They expected change in care facilities for preschool, after school, primary school children, infants and even for children up to 15 years of age, who still need a certain amount of care after school.

This proposal is not what people were expecting. We should make a big issue of this, because it does not deliver on the commitment made by the Minister. Now, the Minister is pushing back the starting date for six months to see if the money being pumped into providing the 6,000 additional child care places will work. If she discovers half way through the year that it is not working, will she push the start date back another six months? If this proposal is what the Minister suggests is Scandinavian child care, it is a joke. Most lone parents would say that.

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