Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful for this opportunity and I thank the Minister for coming to the House. I welcome and compliment the Minister on the announcement of €2.5 million for community groups, albeit a reduction on what was announced in 2013 and 2012. I wish to speak about the unfairness, inequity and inequality of the scheme announced for the child care system that is in place. We must be realistic about the model that exists. A total of 70% of all services are privately operated and the State depends on these services. If we introduce policies that are inequitable towards the largest part of the sector we run the risk of these becoming unsustainable and closing down. If this happens, who will pick up the shortfall? Will the Department explore the trend over the past four or five years regarding the number of community not-for-profit operators and private operators that have commenced and ceased trading? It would be interesting to note the figures. I am not speaking about large chain operators. I am speaking about small service providers such as Waddlers and Toddlers in Rathowen in County Westmeath or On Cloud 9 in Mullingar, where the owner operator is in charge. I could give a range of other examples from my constituency and I am sure such services also exist in the Minister's constituency. Private operators are essential in the communities where they operate because no community facilities exist. These small private operators are expected to adhere to the same standards as community operators, and rightly so, with regard to the adult-to-child ratio, environmental issues and health and safety issues. All regulations must be adhered to and rightly so. However, these operators cannot avail of community employment schemes or the community child care subvention scheme and they cannot fundraise to make up the shortfall. They compete with non-regulated private services such as childminders, and it seems the Minister has no intention of regulating these, so they are at a disadvantage.

We must remember that when the State made significant investment in the services it did so proportionately. Is it the case, despite the fact the State depends on these services, that they make up 70% of all services nationally and that the State has already significantly invested in them, that we will no longer support them? This policy runs the risk of driving up the cost of child care at a time when we speak about what policies we can implement to reduce its cost. Is it empty rhetoric on the Government's part about supporting parents who wish to return to work and reducing the cost of child care? This policy flies in the face of it.

I do not suggest private operators should qualify for the same level of funding as community operators, but they should be eligible for a proportionate amount of funding based on the size of the service they provide. The State depends on the services they provide.

See this speech in context