Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to his new job and wish him all the best in it.

There is a crisis developing in our public crèches throughout the country and in particular with the Jigsaw project, the Darndale Belcamp Integrated Childcare Services. Over the past few years, there have been cuts to the budgets across a broad range of funders. In the case of Darndale, 260 child care places are in jeopardy. Some of them are from among the most deprived and vulnerable in our society.

Some 98 jobs are at risk with skills and experience that cannot be replaced. I remind the Minister that the 1916 Proclamation states that we must cherish all the children of our nation equally. We must ensure that badly needed services for our children and their families are provided and maintained. Darndale is one of the biggest crèches in the country. An additional €200,000 a year would make it viable both now and into the future. Everything has been tried, including pay cuts, cost reductions and fund-raising, just like other crèches have done around the country.

It is worth noting that €240,000 a year goes to the Revenue, so the Minister is getting money back. It may not be his Department, but another one. Some €330,000 a year is raised from contributions by parents. The social consequences of closing this crèche are huge. Not only will it put people on the dole, but it will also affect parents who themselves work and help in the community. There is no flexibility in funding from Tusla, the DSP, Early Years policy programmes and other funders.

The Early Years policy programme calculations are based purely on child numbers and the band their parents fit into. The DSP reimburses wages and has set allocations for materials and training based on participants' numbers. For one fifth of the money needed for Darndale, we also have a crèche under threat in Ballymun. It is not just this crèche; there are also other serious problems with crèches.

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