The following motion was moved by Deputy Robert Troy on Tuesday, 11 February 2014:That Dáil Éireann:notes that:— child care provision in Ireland encompasses a mixed model of provision with services delivered through the community, private and public sector; there are approximately 4,300 child care centres in Ireland; the number of staff employed in the child care sector in Ireland is around 21,000; — there are 405,000 households in Ireland with children under 10 years of age, of which 266,000 households have children under five; — the birth rate in Ireland is the highest in the EU and projections suggest growth in the number of children under five in the period to 2016; — a wide diversity of child care arrangements are used in Ireland and 77% of pre-school children are cared for by parents or relatives; — non-parental child care is very important for families with working parents and 68 per cent of couples with pre-school children where both are working full-time use such child care; and — the annual cost of full-time child care for two children is €16,500 per year;further notes that:— current child care funding policy is absent of any supports for working families who do not avail of the community child care subvention scheme; — the early childhood service infrastructure is under-utilised due to inconsistent access to child care funding schemes and non-regulation of the paid childminding sector; — subsidised child care places are not equally accessible in all areas of the country; and — the number of children of less than five years old will increase between 2011 and 2016 by around 4%;agrees that:— the link between child care and unemployment can be seen by noting that couples with a child dependent are less likely to exit the Live Register and are more likely to become long-term unemployed than other groups; — support for child care for working families is likely to increase labour market participation; — targeted child care support incentives linked with employment and focussed on lower income families offer significant economic benefits by incentivising those on the margin of employment; — the current community child care subvention scheme reinforces the segregation of children from low income families in community child care services and undermines the principle of inclusion; and — there is a lack of incentive for paid childminders to become tax compliant and register with the Child and Family Agency, CFA, due to the inaccessibility of child care funding schemes for home-based child care service providers;accepts that:— the cost of child care in Ireland suggests that average weekly expenditure on child care is a significant burden for families; — the cost of child care in Ireland is the second most costly in the OECD in net terms as a percentage of wages; — for sole parents the average cost of child care is estimated to be 45% of average wages; and — the barriers to employment as a result of child care costs are particularly severe among lower income groups;and calls on the Government to:— introduce a new child care incentive to target specific groups where child care costs are a barrier to labour market participation; — provide a direct payment to families related to the cost of child care, through the family income supplement scheme, FIS; — widen the range of child care options available to low income working families supported under the FIS to include privately managed child care services including registered childminders; — introduce a tax break for working families with children whose income is marginally above the FIS limits; and — ensure that only expenditure on tax compliant child care providers registered with the CFA are eligible for any initiatives introduced. Debate resumed on amendment No. 1:To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "recognises the importance of:— quality early years interventions in supporting the emergence of best outcomes for young children, including in relation to school-readiness and cognitive and behavioural development; and — affordable and accessible childcare to support low and middle income working families and to incentivise labour market activation;notes:— that an estimated €260 million will be expended in 2014 by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs on early years programmes; — the provision of substantial child income supports for 600,000 families through child benefit and for a further 42,000 low-paid working families through family income supplement, totalling €2.2 billion per annum; — the importance of Government support for the universal pre-school year in maintaining the early years sector in the face of the greatest economic collapse in the country's history; — that the annual cost of childcare to parents is reduced by over €2,370 when a child is participating in the free pre-school year; — the increased investment by Government to preserve the universality of the free pre-school year despite increased costs arising from increased demand; — the findings from the "Growing Up in Ireland" study indicating that "one in four parents who availed of the free pre-school year said they would not have been able to send their child to pre-school had it not been for the scheme" and that "this rose to more than one in three among more disadvantaged families"; — the burden which childcare costs can place on low and middle income working families;agrees:— on the ongoing need to support the achievement of high quality standards in early years services; — that the Government's focus on jobs and growth as the best means of recovering living standards will in turn further contribute to takeup of childcare; — on the need to implement such quality improvements as a critical precursor to any future expansion in universal childcare provision, including the possible introduction of a second free pre-school year if resources allow; and — that child income supports play a key role in sharing the costs of child rearing with families, including childcare costs;welcomes the implementation of the Pre-School Quality Agenda including:— the publication of pre-school inspection reports, with 2,530 reports now available online; — the ongoing recruitment by the Child and Family Agency of early years inspectors to fill current vacancies; — the allocation of €0.5 million in 2014 to allow the recruitment of further early years inspectors and to strengthen the national inspection services; — the allocation of €2.5 million in 2014 to support the establishment of a new National Quality Support Service; — the enactment, through the Child and Family Agency Act 2013, of amendments to the Child Care Act 1991 allowing for the introduction of statutory registration of early years services, the introduction of pre-prosecution enforcement functions for early years inspectors and the increase in penalties on foot of convictions at District Court level; — the introduction of a new system of statutory registration of early years services commencing in 2014; — the announced increase in qualification requirements for early years staff from September 2014; and — the allocation of additional funding in 2013, 2014 and 2015 to support the training and upskilling of early years staff; and supports: — the development in 2014 of an Early Years Strategy which will set out an overall approach to the improvement of quality in the early years sector; — the carrying out during 2014 of a review of the aims of the targeted childcare schemes with a view to considering how any future expansion of the schemes, as resources allow, should be targeted to align with Government policy; — the continued provision of in-work supports for low-income working families and assistance for unemployed parents to access employment, training or education programmes; and — continued co-operation between the Departments of Social Protection and Children and Youth Affairs in relation to childcare and family income supports."-(Minister for Children and Youth Affairs)

See this item in context