Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank my constituency colleague, Deputy Corcoran Kennedy, for raising this important matter. Members will be aware that my Department provides approximately €260 million annually to support the parents of preschool and after-school children with the cost of child care. This funding is provided through approximately 4,300 child care service providers, both community and commercial, throughout the country, enabling them to provide child care supports either free of charge or at reduced rates to qualifying parents. This funding is made available under a number of child care support programmes, all of which are implemented by my Department. These include the early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme, the community childcare subvention programme, the childcare education and training support programme, and the new after-school childcare programme.

The early childhood care and education programme is a universal and free programme to which all children have access and which provides a free preschool year to eligible children in the year before they start primary school. The programme is provided by both community and commercial services and the funding allocated to each service is based on the number of qualifying children and the level of service provided. The standard annual capitation payment in respect of each qualifying child is almost €2,400, with a higher payment made to services where staff hold a higher level of qualification. The programme, which has been in place since 2010, represents an annual investment of €175 million in preschool services. This investment provides a guaranteed source of income to both private and commercial providers and is an important support for many child care services at this time. Approximately 68,000 children avail of the free preschool year annually.

The community childcare subvention programme is provided by community not-for-profit child care services. The programme provides targeted funding primarily to support lower income and disadvantaged families. There are more than 900 community not-for-profit child care services throughout the country involved in this programme. The funding provided is used by the participating services to reduce the weekly fees charged to qualifying families and this ensures that many parents, who otherwise would not be in a position to avail of child care services, have access to quality preschool and after-school supports.

Funding is also provided by my Department to support the childhood education and training support programme, which targets funding to support parents seeking to return to the workforce and who are participating in SOLAS or education and training boards education and training programmes. In view of the improving economic situation and the increased opportunities for employment, this is an important employment activation measure that will continue to be supported by this Government. To support further parents seeking employment opportunities, additional measures have been introduced to provide for parents on community employment schemes who need child care support. This programme was introduced earlier this year and there already are almost 400 parents availing of this support.

An important concern for parents who have returned to the workforce is the availability of suitable and affordable after-school care. Last year, my Department and the Department of Social Protection jointly introduced the after-school childcare scheme targeted at low-income parents returning to the workforce. The objective is to ensure that affordable and quality child care is available to disadvantaged families when work opportunities are offered. The community employment and after-school support programmes are provided by both community and commercial child care services and the funding provided is used by the services to reduce the weekly fees charged to qualifying parents. To ensure that child care services are fit for purpose and in a position to deliver quality services, a number of capital funding grant programmes have been introduced in recent years.

I am aware of the current difficulties facing the early years sector. I acknowledge what Deputy Corcoran Kennedy has said and am pleased to inform her that despite the adverse economic conditions that have prevailed in recent years, my Department has been able to maintain the level of funding available to the child care sector. This funding supports more than 100,000 children and their parents every year, together with ensuring that many child care services are in a position to continue operating, thereby providing work opportunities for more than 20,000 people throughout the country. I hope to be in a position to invest further in early years services as the financial and economic circumstances of the State permit.

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