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

I thank the Minister for taking this important debate. The affordability and accessibility of child care has been brought to my attention - and, I am sure, the Minister's attention - time and again by parents, professionals working in the area and various early childhood sector stakeholders. The 2014 report Key Data on Early Childhood Education and Care in Europe, published jointly by Eurydice and EUROSTAT, is the latest in a long list of reports that cast a worrying focus on the affordability and accessibility of child care in Ireland. One of the key findings in the report is that at all income levels, the cost of early childhood care and education services in Ireland is among the highest in the OECD. In previous reports, it was highlighted as the second highest. In some cases, the cost outstrips parents' weekly mortgage bills.

Earlier, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, in a pre-budget submission to my party, cited the cost of child care as a cause of deep financial strain for suffering families. It also stated that this acted as a barrier preventing people, particularly women in low-income families, from returning to the workforce. This needs to be addressed quickly, because access to high-quality and affordable child care has a major positive impact on a child's future educational and life chances. This is a well accepted argument across the political divide, but we also need to be highly cognisant of connecting factors in the child's life, the critical importance of the family environment, welfare dependency, mental health issues and child poverty. Unless we look on both the quality of child care and family support as inseparable, success may prove too tall an order for each in isolation.

Ireland currently only spends 0.2% of GDP on pre-primary education. The Nordic countries are often referenced for comparison; Sweden spends 0.7% of GDP in this sector, while Denmark spends 0.8% of GDP. At a time of financial constraint, we need to gradually increase in our investment in this area. We must begin by adopting a targeted approach to provide greater supports to middle- and low-income families that are finding it difficult.

Prior to the Minister's taking office, my party tabled a Private Members' motion earlier this year on investment in child care and affordability. It is important that, no matter what policy initiatives are taken to address this key issue, the quality of our services is never undermined. They must be of paramount consideration. Earlier this year, a nationwide report commissioned by the Donegal County Childcare Committee brought forward fully costed proposals to address this issue for the future. At the time, the Minister's predecessor, Deputy Fitzgerald, who launched the report and who lauded and complimented it, promised to give attention to its contents. She promised to review the two schemes in place to support low-income families in respect of child care provision, including the early childhood care and education scheme. Will the Minister outline what his Department has done over the past six months to address this crucial issue?

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