Áine Collins (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is nothing in this Private Members' motion with which any Member of this House would disagree. I would be surprised if similar aspirations were not expressed by Fine Gael in opposition and also by Opposition parties when Fianna Fáil was in power at the height of the economic boom. Yet with all the surplus that was available then, Fianna Fáil made very little progress in implementing these objectives. In fact, the opposite was the case because of the mishandling of the economy. This allowed very little scope for this Government to implement these objectives. Despite this, some progress has been made and this Government spends more than €0.25 billion a year on improving child care facilities.

The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, along with every Deputy, is very conscious of the high costs of child care. We currently spend 0.2% of GDP on child care when the European average is 0.7% of GDP. For some young couples it is as costly as their mortgage and this can even prevent one partner from returning to work. The evidence shows that in most cases this happens to be the woman. While young girls are achieving huge results in third level education this is being lost in the economy and, as a result, the economy is suffering. There is a social argument for making child care more affordable. The more people at work, the most taxation is available for spending and investing in infrastructure and personnel resources. More importantly, there are huge long-term advantages for the economy and society generally.

We know that many of the difficulties children and young people face can be traced back to their early years. We also know that, without question, the returns to investment in child care are maximised when investment is directed towards the early years. Last year the Government produced a policy document called Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures, the national policy framework for children and young people 2014-20. This is a specific commitment to continue to increase investment in high quality early years care and education for all children with a special emphasis on low income families. Everyone accepts that there is a long way to go and huge investment is needed. This must be achieved by a combination of public and private investment.

Building the equality of provision is critically important in realising better outcomes for children. This will include higher capitation rates to providers who employ staff with higher qualifications. As the Minister will be aware, a valuation Bill will be introduced in the House on Thursday. The Minister of State, Deputy Harris, introduced an amendment to that Bill in the Seanad, which will mean that rates will no longer be payable by child care facilities that are run on a not for profit basis. I mention two examples in my constituency, one in Boherbue and one in Banteer, which are an ideal example of such facilities. Children are dropped off at 7 a.m. The facilities are fantastic and are run by the community. One of the facilities is next door to the national school. It needs more investment because 278 people use that facility. It needs capital investment to expand it as the demand for it is very high and the facility is very good. I would like to see more of those developments around the country. Such facilities are a very welcome development.

The motion before the House calls on the Government to provide tax breaks for working families, to provide a second full free preschool year, and to introduce an agreed standard payscale for child care workers which would include statutory holiday pay. All these objectives are clearly laid out in the Government's policy document Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures. These are all the arguments in the motion that are very desirable and that will be introduced by the Government as resources become available.

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