Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Fianna Fáil for tabling this motion. At the risk of sounding sarcastic, I am curious to find out whether the party won the EuroMillions and did not tell anybody, or if it has Charlie McCreevy up its sleeve, because if one looks at all of what Fianna Fáil wishes to do in this motion - and that is before we work out what a child care tax break would cost - it amounts to approximately €1.2 billion. What other services would the party cut to be able to provide this myriad of extensions of services?

I have four children who have gone through the private child care sector, and with parents and grandparents in our house also minding our children, we have the best of both worlds. The service available from people in the private sector is second to none. Their commitment to excellence, high-quality education, home-from-home environments and playfulness in afternoons after school is incredible, particularly given that their wages probably are not what they should or could be on foot of their dedication. I take my off to them and I pay tribute to the services they provide.

I also pay tribute to our community services sector. There are wonderful establishments in every second village and town in the country that are provided and subvented by the State. They also provide excellence in care.

The changes that were made in the last number of years by the previous Minister regarding the levels of education are testament to this Government's quality agenda in the delivery of child care. Obviously, quality must be supported. The learning support schemes, the learner funds and the CETS programme are in place, and I would support the provision of more money for these. If the Department gets more money this year, I hope we can provide some to give people the leg up they require to extend their qualifications from level 5 to level 6 and up to level 8. They want to improve their level of education and their qualification status, and it is important to ensure they can do that.

I acknowledge the benefit of the ECCE year. Although it is called the early childhood care and education programme, I do not believe it is about child care. For me, the three hours in the morning that one's child receives for the year before he or she goes to primary school is all about early intervention. It is about intervening educationally with the child to develop not only the child's education but also his or her self-esteem and communication skills. It works. I am not sure about the merits of a second year, to be honest. I am more concerned about perfecting the first year we already have before we look to extend it to a second year. I acknowledge that it works.

However, when we speak about affordable child care, we should not slip into the mistake of thinking the ECCE year is about child care. It only addresses an issue for four year olds and it only addresses it for three hours a day. We all know and acknowledge that families are paying mortgage-style rates for having their children minded. My children are older now, but when they were younger I was working and at the end of the month I was getting my wage in one hand and handing it to the crèche with the other. This was my choice. I wanted to continue working. However, we all know and acknowledge that the cost of child care is very high in this country. We also acknowledge that the people in the industry would like to work more hours and would like to earn more.

I welcome the cross-departmental group the Minister has established. With respect, it is easy to say we should give tax breaks or that we should double the ECCE year provision. Fianna Fáil's motion shows little imagination. We need to think outside the box. We need to look at all of the establishments, in every single town and village, which are already owned by the State. We need to look at the resources which are available to communities to see how we can best maximise the potential of those resources in communities by providing services and allowing access to those facilities, perhaps after hours. We need to look at the wealth of resources available and the qualified people in the sector to see how we can extend the hours and offer them more reach to our children after school.

I wish to mention one thing which is not in the motion. People who have children with disabilities have often said the ECCE year is difficult to access if the support services are not available to these children. By this, I mean special needs assistants or other support or resource hours teachers. An example of this is to be seen in my county. The HSE, from its disability budget, which is entirely separate to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, provides and pays for resources in child care facilities in order that children who have disabilities, once they arrive in their ECCE setting, do not have to suffer any more than they already do. The disability budget of the HSE is already paying for this and this is something I would like to see extended to every single county in the country. I know it is not within the remit of the Minister but he may be encouraged to speak to the Minister for Health and to ask him to extend this. This is the biggest criticism on the part of parents of children with disabilities. The accessibility to the ECCE year is sometimes difficult. This would make a big difference to them.

I commend the Minister on the changes he has made and is making and on his cross-departmental group. I wish the Minister every success with it. However, it is important that we do not just take submissions from the vested interests and the providers, but that we extend the submission to all parents and to anyone else who has an interest in this sector.

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