Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Deputy on all of the questions and issues she has raised. Single parent families were a key group I had in mind when I decided to move towards the affordable childcare scheme. Even though the full scheme is not ready to be launched and the streamlining of all of the different targeted subsidies is not yet complete, from the beginning of my ministry and the first budget I negotiated I have received additional targeted subsidies especially to enable those families with the least to get the most to meet their childcare needs. This is in addition to the universal payments available if single parents have an early born child. From the very beginning much of the political approach I have taken has been to design the affordable childcare scheme which simply seeks to bring together the various schemes already available in order that they will be easier to administer. Prior to that happening, we have increased significantly the targeted subsidies, especially for those families with the least income. They receive the most. When research is carried out in the future on the position in the years 2017, 2018 and 2019, I believe we will see a different picture.

The Deputy asked whether there could be something in particular provided to target one-parent families. In the context of the overall plan and the overall family and household income thresholds, the scheme is probably sufficient; those who have the least get the most. It is also true that, with the First 5 strategy, we are looking to develop a model that will offer a more DEIS-type approach to early learning and care centres in areas where one-parent families are seeking to access childcare and particularly in need of it.

The Deputy's questions on the information campaign are excellent. We are working on it and hope to initiate it in the next month.

All those aspects, especially those relating to the MyGovID portal, are absolutely crucial for people to be aware of, especially where lone-parent families are seeking to access the subsidies.

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