Dáil debates

Wednesday, 31 January 2018

Childcare Support Bill 2017: Second Stage

 

6:40 pm

Photo of Tony McLoughlinTony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the opportunity to speak on the Childcare Support Bill. The Bill when enacted will among other things introduce new and welcomed financial supports aimed at assisting low- and middle-income families to meet the cost of providing child care. During the 2016 general election campaign despite what some politicians in this House tried to make us believe, water was not the major issue on the doors. Real issues such as housing and job creation along with accessing affordable child care were the prominent issues on the doorsteps in the Sligo-Leitrim constituency.

That is why I am delighted to speak in support of this Bill which aims to achieve just that. This legislation is real evidence that the Government has listened to the concerns of young parents. It is also further proof that the Government is attempting to address some of the concerns relating to the costs associated with child care.

If enacted, the Bill will facilitate the introduction of the Government's new affordable child care scheme to the public. The new scheme will provide financial supports to parents to help them to meet the costs of child care. These will include income-related supports that will be targeted at low-income families, non-income-related supports that will be available on a universal basis and additional supports for families with an identified need for child care on grounds of child welfare or child development. By making child care more affordable, this scheme is aimed at supporting children's participation in quality child care, supporting parents' participation in the workplace and, through both of these efforts, reducing child poverty, which is a major aspect of the Bill. By giving a statutory basis to the scheme’s rules, procedures and IT systems, the Bill will also provide a robust framework for future investment in child care. On this basis, it can be viewed in this instance as being progressive legislation that can act as a building block for further investment in child care in the future.

Some key elements of the Bill include provisions for the appointment of a scheme administrator. It will ensure the establishment of an application process for parents and an income assessment process so that those in real need of assistance can be identified quickly and supports provided rapidly. It will give rise to the creation of a statutory basis for data-sharing arrangements. It is intended that this will enable the income assessment process to be largely automated through data-sharing arrangements with other Departments and agencies thus minimising waiting times. Finally, it will introduce the payment of subsidies on behalf of parents to participating registered child care providers who must use these subsidies to offset the fees charged to parents. However, I must note that, there are real concerns with this particular aspect of the Bill that may need to be addressed as we move forward. We have heard of many supported crèches simply increasing their charges for attendance in order to observe this State support. This leaves the family no better off than before and needs closer attention.

The affordable child care scheme will replace a number of existing administrative child care support schemes with a single, streamlined and more user-friendly scheme. In particular, the income assessment process within the scheme will involve a move away from the current schemes' reliance on social welfare payments and medical cards as a way of assessing financial need for child care and, as such, will enable the targeting of child care supports at those with the greatest need, particularly families who are seeking to enter the labour market but who have low incomes. The scheme is also intended to improve administrative efficiency and streamline application and registration procedures for parents and for child care providers. The latter can only be welcomed. I look forward to the new measures being introduced and I look forward to seeing other measures, such as a potential tax credit for families in order to help them reduce costs further, being brought forward.

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