Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Kitt for sharing his time, and I compliment Deputy Troy on having tabled the motion. It is a very positive motion. The Deputy went out of his way to be positive in constructing it. I feel a little disappointed that the House could be dividing this evening on something that is important to all of us, because we united in going to the people in 2012 to convince them to support the children's rights referendum. It would be nice if we had been able to come here this evening, put aside our political differences and agree a motion that would give effect to the provision of resources and services that would enhance the lives of children all over the country.

Deputy Lawlor is a good friend of mine for many years, but I was disappointed to hear him make party political comments. I think he is wide of the mark. As someone who entered the Oireachtas in 2000, I am particularly proud that between 2000 and 2011, Fianna Fáil was in many respects pioneering in its approach to child care provision. In that period we had the various capital programmes and in excess of €400 million was invested in the provision of approximately 65,000 places. It did not satisfy everybody and it did not meet all the demands that existed, but it started a process that has borne real fruits and that has brought major benefits to many households and individuals throughout the country.

I have repeatedly said to my good friend, the former Deputy Barry Andrews, that introducing the free early childhood education scheme meant that he did something that was on a par with what had been done many decades ago by the late Donogh O'Malley, when he introduced free second level education. There is no doubt that at the core of the challenge which faces us all in the body politic is to build a better community and society and the earlier we intervene in support of young children, the better. In particular, the earlier we intervene in circumstances of disability and disadvantage, the better for all of us.

In the past week I attended two public meetings in my constituency. The first was with a group of parents of children on the autistic spectrum. I allude here to some extent to the points made by Deputy Creed. Listening to the stories of the parents involved, the child care they wanted was specialist care that would meet the needs of their children. They wanted the various therapies, such as speech and language therapy, but there was no consistency in availability. We are proud in Fianna Fáil that we appointed the first Minister of State with responsibility for child care. Fair play to this Government that we now have a full Minister at Cabinet, but there is much work to be done in ensuring that those children who are significantly disadvantaged can avail of uniform care across the country, as can their parents, who have to contend with the trials and tribulations of raising a child. One woman at that meeting had three children on the autistic spectrum, and I can only shudder to think at the challenges and responsibilities that she has every day. In order to get support from the system, she must battle every day, but it should not be like that. As Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, the Minister can do something about it.

A little later in the same week, I had the interesting experience, along with my party colleagues and Deputies Heydon and Deputy Wall, of meeting the Athy Travellers Club. They are a wonderful group of people who provide a community child care facility for the local Traveller community. The local Traveller community children are joined in the service by other marginalised groups in the local community in Athy.

It appears the capitation grant provided to the child care facility in question has been cut by the Department as part of a process administered by Pobal. The moneys available to the facility have declined from €70,000 in 2013 to €38,000 in 2014. If the Department proceeds with this cut, this Traveller child care facility will have to close down. I challenge the Minister to find in any community young people of similar age who are more marginalised than the children of members of the travelling community. If it comes to pass that this level of cut must be borne by the organisation in question, it will be utterly disgraceful. I ask the Minister to review the matter.

I do not know if this is an isolated case because I have in my possession a copy of a letter written to the Minister on 3 February by Early Childhood Ireland, an organisation representing 3,400 child care providers. The letter, which expresses serious concern about developments in child care provision, notes the following:

The sector has adapted and stepped up to meet each new legislative and policy requirement, but is now palpably frustrated due to the continuation of unresolved issues, some of which are set out below:

- Repeated delays and shortfall in payments (CCS), with significant discrepancies in expected levels of income

- Appeals for ECCE not being dealt with and members waiting for resolution of cases from last year

- Lack of timely notification of changes to schemes - changes are made to schemes without consultation or prior notice and new stipulations are continually added to contracts

- Higher capitation unresolved - people have recruited staff at Level 8 and are paying them higher salaries but no confirmation of higher capitation to services have been received.

Early childhood care providers are coming under severe pressure. While I am aware that the Department and child and family services are also under serious pressure, as are all Departments, we must prioritise. If we cannot prioritise children, in particular marginalised children, and choose instead to engage in rhetoric about the importance of breaking the cycle, the cost to society in terms of the lost potential of the children in question and the communities they will form will be much greater than the cost of investing in breaking the cycle. The Minister must address these issues.

There is not a Member of the House who does not wish the Minister well and hope that she, more than most other Ministers, succeeds admirably in her Department. There must be fair play, however, for those who are disadvantaged and marginalised. If they do not experience early intervention, as appears to be the case in some areas, the Minister will have failed the challenge facing her. That is an accusation I do not wish to level when her term in office concludes.

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