Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the debate on the child care as it is an issue which affects most of us at some time in our lives. I was very lucky when I had my children in that I was able to stay at home and spend time with them and see them grow up, flourish and do all their activities. I spent many a time running around bringing groups of children from one end of the street to the other. Today things are very different for many young parents who do not have the choice I had to stay at home and rear my family. They have huge mortgages and other huge commitments that sometimes cannot be met unless both partners are working. Many are caught in the bubble of negative equity, as has been said, and need to go out to work to keep the roof over their head. It is all about choice. There are many young couples who do not have the choice I had and they have to return to work.

Total annual Government funding allocated to the child care support programmes is in the region of €260 million. Low income families can avail of the community child care subvention programme, which is provided through community not-for-profit child care services, and 25,000 children benefit from this programme each year. The Government also funds the childcare, education and training support programme to support parents who are in SOLAS courses or studying in VEC colleges. Some €145 euro is provided each week for full-day child care places, and more than 8,000 children currently benefit from this programme.

The free preschool year is another excellent programme funded by Government. It is open to all parents, and goes some way towards easing the burden of child care. At present, approximately 68,000 children benefit from this programme. I understand that extending this programme into a second year would have serious implications for the Minister's budget.

However, I strongly feel this would help many parents and families who are finding it very difficult to juggle work and home life. I urge the Minister to continue to pursue this matter, even though it may take some time to implement. I believe it is very important.

Regrettably, child care can be very expensive as most child care services are provided privately. It is a business, but many of these businesses provide a wonderful service and employ many people. Without that service, we would have more difficulties in finding places for child care. Recent analysis shows that the average weekly expenditure on paid child care for one preschool child rose from €118 per week in 2007 to €133 per week in 2013. The full-time cost of child care for a young child is between €730 and €1,100 per month, and these figures depend on the child's age and its need to be in a different part of a crèche at different times. For many parents, this has become another mortgage payment.

Most working mothers, when planning their return to work after their six months maternity leave, which is not necessarily paid, are confronted with the difficult decision as to who will mind their baby. By the time a baby reaches nine months, almost 40% are in regular child care that does not involve a parent. The most common type of childminder is a relative, most often a grandparent. In fact, 42% of nine-month-olds in non-parental child care are looked after by relatives. This is followed by the 31% minded by non-relatives, usually childminders, with the other 27% in centre-based care.

Emotionally, this is a very challenging time for new parents, and new mothers in particular. For many, it is not an easy decision to entrust a new baby to a stranger, which is what it is, and not see the baby from early morning until late in the evening. The emotional stress that comes with this can be very difficult for young mothers. Many mothers find themselves struggling with their work-life balance, trying to do their best for their child or children while also pursuing a career. For many who work long hours to pay for expensive child care, something has to give. This is why high quality, affordable child care is so important for those parents who want to continue to work, and it would also promote women's continuity in employment, which is a key issue in terms of the gender wage gap.

The issue of maternity and paternity leave also needs to be addressed. New mothers can avail of 26 weeks maternity leave from their job, but fathers do not have any statutory entitlement to paternity leave in Ireland. I believe this needs to change in line with other countries. In the UK, for example, fathers get up to two weeks paid paternity leave and can avail of up to 26 weeks paid additional paternity leave if the mother returns to work. It can sometimes be more economic and beneficial for the mother to return to work and the father to stay at home. Other countries also allow parents to share parental leave, which makes sense as every family situation is different. In Italy, for example, fathers receive 13 weeks paternity leave, fathers in Norway get 12 weeks, and fathers in Sweden can avail of 16 months, shared with the mother.

While I seem to be speaking mostly about mothers, I know and have myself witnessed the shared responsibility of fathers today in caring, loving and managing the home for their children. I believe shared maternity leave is not only good for the child, but it is also very good for parents. I urge the Minister to look at this into the future because I believe it is the way to go with regard to child care in this country.

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