Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on the equal opportunities child care programme delivered in the Cootehill community resource centre, located in the Drumnaveil estate. The resource centre was established in 1999 by a voluntary committee and was initially a five-year programme. Grant aid of £50,000 was provided per annum.

Part of the conditions of the grant was that the group should have a strong focus on the disadvantaged, targeting those most in need. It is acknowledged that the programme is meeting these objectives, which is laudable. The centre is a shining example of what can be achieved by local voluntary committees with some grant aid. We should help these types of committees help themselves and their communities.

It provides an excellent range of services for upwards of 320 people per month, a great number of people. The services range from a crèche, dealing with two year olds to three year olds; to preschool, which deals with three year olds to five year olds; and homework support clubs which deal with four year olds to five year olds. The centre also provides after school activity dealing with children ranging from six to 12 years old. In addition a summer camp is run, which was attended by 80 people this year from locations as far away as Dublin, Belfast and Leitrim. It hopes to increase numbers to 100 people next year.

The centre provides a range of courses, such as personal development courses in an anti-bullying strategy. This is useful for young people. It also offers relationships and personal development courses targeted at children up to the age of 18, which is the age group that should be targeted in small towns to encourage them to undertake worthwhile programmes. It also deals with statutory bodies. Situations arise where the Health Service Executive refers people to the centre and the VEC makes use of the centre to run a range of night courses. In all, the centre is a wonderful asset for the town of Cootehill.

However, a problem arises. In 1999, when the course was established for a five-year period, the centre was given grant-aid of £50,000 per year, which would now equate to €63,500. The centre received good news in a letter dated 27 September last, which stated that the course would run for an extra two years and four months and that the centre would be given €124,000 to pay for this extension. However, when the figures were totted up, it became apparent that instead of the 15% increase indicated in the letter, a decrease would apply. There is not enough funding to run the service. If the service were to run at the required level for the period of two years and four months, it would cost €170,000, but that funding has not been provided.

Given the reduction in funding, the centre must consider other reductions. Three full-time and three part-time staff work at the centre. The options being considered at present are to reduce the number of staff at the centre, to reduce the number of hours they work or, worse, to reduce the number of weeks on which the service is provided to as few as 40 weeks per annum.

We should not be considering such options. Instead, we should be considering the benefits that this community resource centre is providing to the people of Cootehill. We must also remember that it is targeted at the most disadvantaged and those most in need. We are talking about reducing a service that is led by a voluntary committee. We should seek to increase the level of grant-aid and encourage the centre to provide a greater level of services.

The population and demand for services in Cootehill are increasing on an ongoing basis. The centre is well-run and a shining example to the rest of the country. It would hope to be in a position to establish a purpose-built unit on the site, although that is further down the road. We should send a positive signal to those operating the centre that we intend to increase its funding rather than decrease it. The letter to which I referred stated that a 15% increase would apply with effect from 1 September 2005, yet there is a decrease of 20%. The Minister must consider the excellent value the equal opportunities child care programme offers to the people of Cootehill. Adequate funding should be provided to this voluntary committee to help it run this very effective service.

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, has responsibility for this area of Government policy but his ministerial duties demand his presence elsewhere this evening. Deputy Connolly has referred to a particular facility in Cootehill, County Cavan. To respond to the Deputy it is necessary first to give a brief explanation of the equal opportunities childcare programme, EOCP, for which the Minister, Deputy McDowell, has responsibility.

The programme for Government and the progress of the equal opportunities child care programme 2000-06 are confirmation of the Government's commitment to developing services to support the child care needs of the parents of Ireland with a particular emphasis on those who may be in employment, or in education or training to prepare for employment. The EOCP has both an equal opportunities and a social inclusion perspective and aims to increase the supply of centre-based child care places by 55%, or 31,300 additional places, by the end of the programme. Current forecasts of impact suggest that it will ultimately create at least 39,300 places, including over 26,000 which have already been achieved.

The first meeting of the expert working group on child care established under Partnership 2000 was held within a month of the Government changeover in 1997 and all the evidence shows that child care has been high on our agenda since that time. The Government has consistently moved promptly, purposefully and proactively to facilitate the development of a top quality child care service throughout the country to support parents, the economy and social inclusion through labour market participation. Since the Government was re-elected in 2002, it has further increased the funding provision for the development of child care by over €60 million. This includes part of the additional capital provision of €90 million made available by the Minister for Finance in budget 2005 over the period 2005-09 to develop child care infrastructure, and brings the allocation for the present programme to almost €500 million.

The Deputy may be aware that €190,461 in staffing grant assistance under the EOCP was approved for Cootehill Community Resource House in July 2001. Further staffing grant assistance of €124,500 has been approved to cover the period to the end of 2007. The funding approved to the end of 2007 was considered appropriate for the level of service being provided by the group.

I understand that the group has recently contacted the child care directorate of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform to appeal the level of funding approved. This appeal has been forwarded to Pobal, formally known as Area Development Management Limited, which is engaged by the Department to carry out detailed assessments of all EOCP grant applications. The appeal will undergo a thorough assessment by Pobal prior to its recommendation being forwarded to the programme appraisal committee and a decision being made by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Pending the outcome of this process, it would be premature of me to comment further on the group's appeal.

Many child care services throughout County Cavan have benefited from grant assistance under the EOCP. To date, the Minister has announced funding of over €8.3 million for child care in County Cavan, which is supporting the creation of 677 new child care places and 783 existing places throughout the county. The Deputy will be aware of the role of the Minister of State, Deputy Brendan Smith, in ensuring that Cavan gets every opportunity to benefit fully from the scheme.

Since budget 2005 was announced in December 2004, the Minister, Deputy McDowell, has announced a record allocation of some €150 million in capital funding for community-based, not-for-profit groups. The availability of the additional capital funding enables the Minister to make further capital grant assistance available to groups which address significant child care service gaps and where the project proposal represents good value for money. It is only fair to emphasise that the equal opportunities child care programme has been central to the recent development of child care in Ireland, which will continue to flourish under the careful stewardship of the Government.