Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I move:

That Dáil Éireann:notes that:

— child care provision in Ireland encompasses a mixed model of provision with services delivered through the community, private and public sector; there are approximately 4,300 child care centres in Ireland; the number of staff employed in the child care sector in Ireland is around 21,000;

— there are 405,000 households in Ireland with children under 10 years of age, of which 266,000 households have children under five;

— the birth rate in Ireland is the highest in the EU and projections suggest growth in the number of children under five in the period to 2016;

— a wide diversity of child care arrangements are used in Ireland and 77% of pre-school children are cared for by parents or relatives;

— non-parental child care is very important for families with working parents and 68 per cent of couples with pre-school children where both are working full-time use such child care; and

— the annual cost of full-time child care for two children is €16,500 per year;

further notes that:

— current child care funding policy is absent of any supports for working families who do not avail of the community child care subvention scheme;

— the early childhood service infrastructure is under-utilised due to inconsistent access to child care funding schemes and non-regulation of the paid childminding sector;

— subsidised child care places are not equally accessible in all areas of the country; and

— the number of children of less than five years old will increase between 2011 and 2016 by around 4%;

agrees that:

— the link between child care and unemployment can be seen by noting that couples with a child dependent are less likely to exit the Live Register and are more likely to become long-term unemployed than other groups;

— support for child care for working families is likely to increase labour market participation;

— targeted child care support incentives linked with employment and focussed on lower income families offer significant economic benefits by incentivising those on the margin of employment;

— the current community child care subvention scheme reinforces the segregation of children from low income families in community child care services and undermines the principle of inclusion; and

— there is a lack of incentive for paid childminders to become tax compliant and register with the Child and Family Agency, CFA, due to the inaccessibility of child care funding schemes for home-based child care service providers;

accepts that:

— the cost of child care in Ireland suggests that average weekly expenditure on child care is a significant burden for families;

— the cost of child care in Ireland is the second most costly in the OECD in net terms as a percentage of wages;

— for sole parents the average cost of child care is estimated to be 45% of average wages; and

— the barriers to employment as a result of child care costs are particularly severe among lower income groups;

and calls on the Government to:

— introduce a new child care incentive to target specific groups where child care costs are a barrier to labour market participation;

— provide a direct payment to families related to the cost of child care, through the family income supplement scheme, FIS;

— widen the range of child care options available to low income working families supported under the FIS to include privately managed child care services including registered childminders;

— introduce a tax break for working families with children whose income is marginally above the FIS limits; and

— ensure that only expenditure on tax compliant child care providers registered with the CFA are eligible for any initiatives introduced.

I welcome the opportunity to propose this motion on early childhood care and education on behalf of my party. I understand this is the first time the current Dáil has had a comprehensive debate on this critical issue, which faces many families throughout the country. Fianna Fáil believes early childhood care and education is grounded in certain principles. We believe children should be valued and respected as young citizens and enjoy a childhood in which they are cherished and supported by their families and by the wider society. We believe investment in early childhood care and education is more than just a financial investment; it is a statement of commitment and respect for every child's right to education regardless of age, ability or background in Irish society. We believe the provision of high-quality services for children can bring significant benefits in areas like welfare development and educational attainment. We believe the early childhood sector should be valued as a core component of Ireland's employment, economic and enterprise infrastructure that will play an essential role in enabling people to return to work as the economy improves.

As my party's spokesperson for children, I wish to pursue policies and legislative changes which will ensure children get the best start in life to enable them to reach their full educational potential. I launched Fianna Fáil's discussion paper on early childhood care and education, Investing in Tomorrow, in September of last year. The main purpose of the development of this document was to promote an informed conversation between parents, stakeholders and policy makers on the further development of early childhood care and education in Ireland. I suggest it has been a successful undertaking, given that since the paper was published, I have spoken with many child care service providers, early childhood support organisations, academics, students and parents who have enriched my awareness of the challenges that face all stakeholders in Ireland's early childhood sector. The feedback on the content of the document from early childhood stakeholders has been positive. They like the practicality of the vision, objectives and recommendations proposed in the document. They believe that it puts forward a vision for early childhood care and education that is rational and responsive to the needs of parents and children.

Early childhood education is a fundamental component of Ireland's education system. The learning and development that takes place in early childhood provides an essential cornerstone for lifelong learning and educational attainment. Effective early childhood care and education plays a significant role in reducing educational underachievement, particularly for children who are faced with barriers to learning, and reduces or eliminates the need for later educational and social interventions. Child care provision in Ireland encompasses a mixed model of provision, with services being delivered through the community, private and public sectors. There are approximately 4,300 child care centres in Ireland. This is more than the combined number of primary and second level schools. Approximately 21,000 staff are employed in the child care sector in Ireland. By contrast, there are approximately 32,000 full-time equivalent teaching staff in our primary schools. Therefore, this sector deserves significant attention. It is estimated that approximately 50,000 children are looked after each day by approximately 19,000 childminders, most of whom are unregulated. At the end of 2011, just 257 childminders - or approximately 1% of the total - had been notified to the HSE and were therefore subject to the HSE inspection process. While Ireland's focus on early childhood care and education has undoubtedly improved and all developments are to be welcomed, we are less advanced than our European counterparts with regard to investment and policy implementation for children under the statutory school age.

My party is committed to progressing the regulation, quality and affordability of early childhood care and education as an important early intervention measure, which benefits not only young children and their parents but society and the economy as a whole. The previous decade witnessed many positive developments in early childhood care and education. There was a clear commitment to investing in children under various Fianna Fáil-led Administrations. There was very limited capacity in the child care sector before 2000, but between 2000 and 2010 the State, initially in partnership with the EU, invested €425 million in capital funding in the creation of child care places throughout Ireland. The equal opportunities child care programme, which ran between 2000 and 2007, created approximately 40,000 child care places. Its successor, the national child care investment programme, created 25,000 new child care places between 2006 and 2011. As a result of these two programmes, we now have an extensive early childhood physical infrastructure in place.

The introduction of the free preschool year in 2010 by the then Minster of State with responsibility for children, Barry Andrews, was a monumental advance for early childhood education in Ireland. The State invests approximately €175 million in the scheme every year. Approximately 95% of children participate in it. To be fair to the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, she has always acknowledged how positive this development was. The wording of the Government amendment to the motion before the House acknowledges that "the annual cost of child care to parents is reduced by over €2,370 when a child is participating in the free pre-school year" and mentions the findings from the Growing Up in Ireland study indicating that one in four parents who availed of the free pre-school year said they would not have been able to send their child to pre-school had it not been for the scheme and that this rose to more than one in three among more disadvantaged families. We must bear in mind that the scheme, which covers three and a half of hours of care a day for 38 weeks of the year, does not provide an answer for parents who are working full-time.

My party is committed to strengthening the fundamentals that have already been achieved. We want to ensure previous investment is not lost and existing infrastructure is protected, sustained and progressively improved. Our discussion paper on early childhood care and education, Investing in Tomorrow, focuses on five key areas in which service provision for preschool children in Ireland needs to be improved. We believe it is essential that standards of quality are improved to protect the welfare of children in early childhood services. It is imperative that all aspects of the sector are regulated, inspected and brought under the aegis of child protection legislation. It is unacceptable that large parts of the early childhood sector, including paid childminders and school age child care services, sit outside the regulatory system. The associated problem of the high cost of child care in Ireland is actively driving working parents to avail of lower cost unregulated child care services for their children. If real and tangible progress is to be made in improving standards of quality in early childhood care and education, Fianna Fáil recommends that there should be an increasing incremental investment of GDP over the next ten years in the key areas highlighted in the discussion paper.

It is important for the early childhood care workforce to be supported and professionalised in order to raise standards of quality. National and international research has established that the skills and qualifications of adults working with young children are critical factors in determining the quality of young children's early learning experiences. It is proposed that a professional early childhood training fund should take a whole-service approach to training and professional development. This approach should not be exclusive to training that takes place at FETAC levels 5 and 6. We are in favour of enabling the inclusion of children with special educational needs in early childhood services by supporting an inclusion agenda that ensures every child with a disability or special educational need is supported and enabled to access early education provision. Fianna Fáil has proposed the development of a national inclusion policy for the early childhood sector and the provision of a range of practical supports, including a second full free preschool year, to promote equality of opportunity for children with special needs.

The provision of accessible and affordable child care to working parents is a key consideration in enabling working parents on low incomes to access or remain in the workforce. One of our key recommendations is that the Government should commission a cost analysis of child care in Ireland. This analysis should focus on cost relief proposals for working parents, such as an increase in paid maternity leave as a means of alleviating child care costs in a child's first year and the development of a joint transferable paid parental leave plan between parents.

It was disappointing that budget 2014 continued on the path of the Government's previous budgets by cutting the supports to working parents. There was a reduction in child benefit in 2013 and this year we had the cut to maternity benefit. This cut came about only one week after the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, published the report of the expert advisory group on the early years strategy which recommended an extension to the maternity leave from six months to 12 months and which the Minister said she favoured.

We are, however, encouraged by our decision to highlight this area in the discussion document, as it is now the focus of an international economic report launched by the Minister before Christmas, commissioned by the Donegal County Childcare Committee and conducted by the Indecon International Economic Consultancy Group. The independent nationwide report, entitled "Supporting Working Families - Releasing a Brake on Economic Growth", examines potential policy options to address the child care obstacles that exist as a barrier to employment.

The Government needs to systemically address the cost of child care for working families through cost relief incentives for working parents and this is the main focus of this evening's Private Members' motion. According to the report, typical full-time child care costs range from €730 to €1,100 per month, and a two-child family would spend €16,500 annually on full-time child care. With 266,000 households with children under five years of age, the report illustrated that these costs are a barrier to the workforce. A significant proportion of parents, 26%, with children at nine months of age indicated that they were prevented from returning to work or training as a result of child care arrangements. These barriers to employment are particularly severe among lower income groups, with 56% from this group indicating that child care prevented them from looking for a job.

In support of this argument, it is worth considering the wider picture. The birth rate in Ireland is the highest in the EU and projections suggest growth in the number of children under five in the period to 2016. A wide diversity of child care arrangements are used in Ireland and 77% of preschool children are cared for by parents or relatives. Non-parental child care is very important for families with working parents and 68% of couples with preschool children where both are working full-time use such child care. The number of children of less than five years old will increase between 2011 and 2016 by approximately 4%.

I highlight the following drawbacks with current child care funding policy. Supports for working families who do not avail of the community child care subvention scheme are non-existent. The early childhood service infrastructure is underutilised due to inconsistent access to child care funding schemes and non-regulation of the paid childminding sector. The current CCSS reinforces segregation of children from low income families in community child care settings and undermines the principle of inclusion.

The Indecon report highlighted that the link between child care and unemployment can be seen by noting that couples with a child dependant are less likely to exit the live register and are more likely to become long-term unemployed than other groups. Support for child care for working families is likely to increase labour-market participation. Targeted child care support incentives linked with employment and focused on lower income families offer significant economic benefits by incentivising those on the margin of employment. There is a lack of incentive for paid childminders to become tax compliant and register with the Child and Family Agency due to the inaccessibility of child care funding schemes for home-based child care service providers.

In proposing this motion tonight, I call on the Government to expedite policy initiatives to reduce barriers to employment arising from child care costs with a particular focus on solutions for families most in need, bearing in mind the financial constraints. The Government now has at its disposal an evidence-based report with a full cost analysis on providing supports for working families. This can be achieved through adjustments to the family income supplement scheme for long-term unemployed and for current family income supplement recipients and a limited tax break for working families with incomes marginally above FIS payments.

I look forward to hearing contributions from all side of the House. I hope the Minister will take our motion in the spirit it is intended and will consider it favourably. I commend the motion to the House.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I compliment Deputy Troy on his contribution to this debate and I hope the Minister will join in the debate in an open-minded way to address one of the most acute issues in our society.

During the affluent times we had a much greater child benefit and also had the early childhood supplement. As a result of cutbacks, child benefit has been vastly reduced and the early childhood supplement has been abolished. We introduced the free preschool year, but, as Deputy Troy pointed out, while that is very good for the children, it does not resolve the dilemma faced by parents who have to or want to go to work.

Over the past five or six years the group which has suffered most in the downturn of the economy is the group with big mortgages and young families. They have been hit by the treble whammy of high child care costs, reduced incomes and very large mortgages. We need an holistic approach to the issues. The Government has introduced a number of measures that have posed further difficulties for lone parents regarding the support they get.

I have long argued that we should look at the family income supplement in a more holistic way than we have in the past. An advantage of a scheme such as the family income supplement is that it only helps those who are in employment. In addition, apart from the carer's allowance, it is the most generous in the method of assessment - it disregards the USC, PRSI, union subscriptions and any income tax paid. We could go further with the family income supplement and could target the assistance to those who most need it. People on equal incomes are facing very different pressures in our society. Those in the older age group, who are at the peak of their careers and have their mortgages largely paid, do not face the same pressures faced by working families with young children and large mortgages.

Many people, who entered the workforce and were lucky enough to get jobs since the downturn in the economy, did not take on mortgages given that very few houses have been sold in the past five years. The day-to-day financial pressures on them are smaller. I have long argued that the mortgage cost should be taken into account in the means test for family income supplement. Doing that would not give a huge write-off of mortgages to everybody across the board but would focus on the future. It would clearly signal that people with children and who have a roof over their heads are not as mobile as anyone else in society. They face many challenges that are not faced by people without young children. Over the years in my clinics I have listened to the challenge faced by parents living in rented houses asking why they cannot get a house at the same side of town because they do not want to take the children out of school and move them again.

If as a society we are serious about the future, stability is incredibly important for children and, as a consequence, for their parents. I ask the Minister not to leave the issue as simply the subject of this debate, rather I hope over the course of tonight and tomorrow night new ideas will be put forward throwing out some options that might be worth examining that could be targeted and that would deal with a problem we all know exists.

It has become fashionable in recent times to treat all people as if their circumstances were equal but that is not true nor is it right. People in different circumstances face totally different challenges. If we believe in the rhetoric of what we say about the importance of children in their own right and the importance of their welfare for their future, and if we believe in the importance of children in terms of their possible contribution to society in the future, it is well worth investing and targeting support for children. In this regard, we must support the parents of children. When I hear people say the mortgage issue is equal across the board, I do not believe that is true. The challenge in regard to the mortgage issue faced by many families where there are children is much greater than in other circumstances.

When I was Minister for Social Protection I noted some fascinating statistics. In the past when we talked about female participation in the workforce, we tended to talk about the high end of the scale and not focus enough on the challenges faced by people in relatively modestly paid employment who are trying to rear children, to pay for child care and hold down a job at the same time. One of the fascinating facts regarding the number in receipt of illness benefit is that up to the age of 30 the number of men in receipt of the benefit exceeds the number of women, but as the age profile increases there is a huge increase in the number of women in receipt of the benefit and it reaches the point where twice as many women as men are in receipt of it, and as the age profile increases into the fifties the number of women in receipt of it decreases and more men than women are in receipt of it. There is a rational explanation for this related to the fact that many women find themselves in the impossible position where the cost of child care is nearly equal to the cost of going to work. I have been always a great advocate of the idea that we would recognise that reality and that we would provide extended paid maternity leave or a home-maker's allowance or benefit which would allow a woman to draw a stamp to stay at home with her children for a certain period and then return to the workforce. However, there is no point in expecting people, if they are on modest wages, to return to the workforce if the cost of child care is so utterly prohibitive that they would have very little take home pay when they factor in the cost of travelling to work and other expenses.

My colleague has sparked an interesting debate. He has put forward constructive ideas. This is a case where we all know in our hearts and souls that change and targeting is needed. We could all work together to bring about a radical new proposal that would help one of the groups in our society who face the most challenges at present. All of us who know people in this situation, and every Deputy does, would recognise that if we were to get together and bring forward policies for radical change, which could be done in a cost effective and targeted way, we would do a great long-term service to our society. I suggest that we do not simply leave this issue as the subject of a three-hour debate. It should be referred for further discussion to the Oireachtas committee that deals with this issue in order that an all-party joint committee report could be drawn up, using the ideas put forward by my colleague and ideas that no doubt will be put forward by the Minister. In that way, a cross-party proposal could be agreed and we could then try to persuade the people who hold the purse strings to release them in a targeted way and work to resolve this issue.

Colm Keaveney (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Troy for having the commitment to bring forward this Private Members' motion. Early child care, in cost and quality, is one of the key concerns for both working families and for families who rely on welfare. The provision of child care is interdependent with employment and the improvements of financial supports that are available from the welfare system. I argue that it is critically important that we consider the incentive for working families to remain at work or to return to work from unemployment.

Studies have shown that investment in child care results in the reduction of poverty and increases the educational opportunities for children as they progress through their lives. Given that child care is still the predominant role played by women in Irish society, I also argue that the current system is an inhibitor to women fully participating in the workforce. Arguably, it is causing significant inequality in our society and certainly in our economy in terms of the outcomes and effects of not having a policy that is geared towards families in this respect.

Government action is needed to address the cost of child care for working families, including those seeking employment. That means we need an intelligent distribution of supports to help us tackle the significant cases of various welfare traps that currently exist. I argue that alongside the need to reduce the cost of child care, there is a need to improve the regulation of early child care provision, as set out by previous speakers, and that those working in the sector would have an opportunity, through such regulation, to integrate with the core values informing comprehensive policies in this area. I hope the Minister will accept that targeted supports through tax breaks or adjustments in the family income supplement or direct payments to families who are on the border of family income supplement could deliver more cost effective child care for those on the margins, as has been said by previous speakers. If this were done correctly, we would also encourage the providers of the service who currently are unregulated into a regulated, tax compliant sector. These measures would place a cost on the public purse at the outset but over the course of time revenue would be generated for the Exchequer from tax compliance, increased employment and increased participation in the labour force.

As we develop a fully integrated system of early childhood education and care, I argue strongly that the inclusion of children with special educational needs within that system is critically important. Our party supports a policy of inclusion in that every child with a disability or special educational need is enabled to access early childhood education provision and is integrated into an inclusive system rather than the notion that a child would be put into a specialised setting unless the child has needs that would require such a setting. The benefits of such integration and inclusion are manifold. For the child with a disability or special educational need, he or she grows up and is included in the same social life as his or her peers and is not "hidden away" as used to be practice in the past. These children, and the adults they will later become, are entitled to play a full and wholesome part in society. Under this motion we should consider how we can best assist to provide for children with disabilities in the future. For other children, the benefits are to socialise and to start life seeing those with a disability or a special education need in mainstream life as a full member of society. I have seen this in my own children, where their friends in school include children with Down's syndrome and without any reflection, question or analysis, they regard their colleagues as full and wholesome members of society.

This is far healthier and is a great attitude. The notion we would exclude children with disabilities is one from the old school. Much progress has been made in the area but much remains to be done.

As with our schools, so with our early childhood settings. We cannot allow only a small number of child care providers to share a burden that essentially requires them to be the service providers in this area. Whether it is on the grounds of income, ethnicity, membership of the Traveller community, disability or special educational needs, our early childhood service providers must work towards a total inclusion strategy. I would argue that, unfortunately, the current community child care subvention scheme reinforces the segregation of children from low income families in child care settings. This only serves to undermine the principle of social inclusion and, ultimately, social cohesion.

With regard to the inclusion of children with special needs, we should consider integrating current supports from the HSE at a discretionary level, given they are available at varying levels across the country. The pattern of regional variety in service provision to families with children with special needs was only too evident last week when we saw the outcome of the investment in early intervention teams for children with disabilities. We cannot, as a society, tolerate that families in this situation face a lottery with respect to the availability of supports. The rights of a child in Cork, Galway or Dublin are no less than that of a child in any other area in that they have a right to be fully included in regard to access to public services.

Any proposals and recommendations developed should help to enable the full implementation of the EPSEN Act 2004 and the development of an inclusion policy for the early childhood sector. Responsibility for the provision of special needs assistants to mainstream pre-school services must rest with the HSE through its disability support services. The expansion of a flexible model of early childhood provision is recommended, and we would strongly support any initiative from the Minister in this area. This would enable a system of dual placement with regard to specialist and mainstream provision and would see the enhancement of an integrated model of professional supports and services for the individual learning and support needs of the child.

In line with reducing the challenges faced by children, I would argue that the extension of the free pre-school year, which was addressed by previous speakers, has been of enormous benefit to families in society. I believe we should accelerate the roll-out of a second pre-school year for children. It is important that the extension of this second pre-school year be done on the basis of need first, and then be expanded on a resource basis to allow families and children to fully participate. In the development of childhood services, early expenditure pays dividends for the future and prevents the greater cost to the Exchequer of not investing in the educational outcomes of the child at the primary stage.

With regard to the care of children, it is essential that we move towards a system of shared parental leave equal to the European norm. Ireland is one of the few countries that does not provide fathers with some form of leave outside of emergency or force majeure leave, and we propose they would have leave, outside of a collective bargaining arrangement, on the birth or adoption of a child. We need to bring forward legislation, such as the Parental Leave Bill 2013, which has passed Second Stage in the Seanad. This Bill provides that a pregnant employee and the father of that pregnant employee's child shall not be permitted to take maternity or paternity leave at the same time but that they shall be permitted to share between them a minimum period of the maternity leave. I call on the Government to facilitate the passage of this legislation. It is a worthy measure and I believe it would help tackle the latent sexism that exists in the economy and within some companies. It would provide greater flexibility for families in making childhood arrangements.

To conclude, the motion relates to an issue of concern to families and would bring multiple economic and educational benefits. It is an entirely positive motion, lacking in any political attack. I concur with its motives and, in that light, I would encourage the Government Deputies to consider supporting it.

John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the opportunity to contribute. I compliment Deputy Robert Troy for putting forward the motion, which gives us an opportunity to debate and to make suggestions on how we can move the issue forward. During my time in this House, we have come a long way in regard to developments such as special needs assistants and child care facilities. In my own county, child care centres have been developed in recent years in a number of remote areas like Askamore, Monaseed and Inch, close to Gorey, as well as in some of the towns.

As our motion points out, child care provision in Ireland covers a mixed model of provision, with services delivered through the community, the private sector and the public sector. There are approximately 4,300 child care centres in Ireland and the number of staff is approximately 21,000 to 22,000, some full-time, some part-time, but all doing a good job in providing the services. There are 405,000 households in Ireland with children under ten years of age, of which 266,000 households have children under five. We are told the birth rate in Ireland is the highest in the EU and projections suggest growth in the number of children under five in the period to 2016, and the number of children of less than five years old will increase between 2011 and 2016 by some 4%. Therefore, the motion is timely and it is important we would plan for this increase in the number of children from now up to 2016.

There is a wide diversity of child care arrangements in use in Ireland, with more than three quarters of pre-school children cared for by parents or relatives. The cost of child care in Ireland is a significant burden for families. As Deputy Troy pointed out, a recent Indecon survey carried out for Donegal County Childcare Committee last year estimated the annual cost of full-time child care for two children at €16,500 per year. A lady who came to my clinic last week works in a Government Department and is not highly paid, but she pays in the region of €700 per month for child care in addition to paying a mortgage and trying to survive and provide her family with a decent quality of life. The cost of child care in Ireland is the second most costly in the OECD in net terms as a percentage of wages, and for lone parents the average cost of child care is estimated to be 45% of average wages.

The early childhood service infrastructure is in many ways under-utilised due to inconsistent access to child care funding schemes and non-regulation of the paid child-minding sector. In addition, subsidised child care places are not equally accessible in all areas of the country. This is an area the Minister will have to seriously consider for the future.

The motion calls for the introduction of a new child care incentive to target specific groups where child care costs are a barrier to labour market participation. In doing so, we believe it is essential to direct any incentives to low income families in order to support employment. To further target this, it may be best to look at unemployed families with children under five, given 68,000 families were in that position in 2011, although that has probably increased substantially by now.

The Fianna Fáil motion also suggests the provision of a direct payment to families related to the cost of child care through the family income supplement scheme. This has been one of the more successful schemes. It has been continued by different governments and is an important scheme in terms of ensuring families have a decent standard of living.

I imagine it would be possible through the family income supplement scheme to make a direct payment to families utilising this scheme. It is an area the Minister should look at.

In recent times, different Government Ministers and Deputies have been talking about the Scandinavian system. It is this Government's intention to develop such a system in this country. We would certainly welcome that because the Scandinavian system is held up as a model for the rest of Europe. I ask the Minister when she replies to outline her thoughts on the Scandinavian system and where the Government is in respect of the introduction of a similar system in Ireland.

I welcome the motion and thank Deputy Troy for putting it down. I know he has a deep interest in this area and it is important that all sides of the House work to provide a better child care service for young people. We could talk here for ages, particularly about children with special needs. I remember how a number of years ago, the first special needs assistants in the country were employed in Enniscorthy vocational college. We had one special needs assistant for three people in wheelchairs, one of whom was my daughter. We have come a long way from that situation and now it is nearly one for one. Certainly, there is a need to ensure people with special needs are catered for in whatever new child care system the Government decides to adopt.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:

"recognises the importance of:— quality early years interventions in supporting the emergence of best outcomes for young children, including in relation to school-readiness and cognitive and behavioural development; and

— affordable and accessible childcare to support low and middle income working families and to incentivise labour market activation;notes:— that an estimated €260 million will be expended in 2014 by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs on early years programmes;

— the provision of substantial child income supports for 600,000 families through child benefit and for a further 42,000 low-paid working families through family income supplement, totalling €2.2 billion per annum;

— the importance of Government support for the universal pre-school year in maintaining the early years sector in the face of the greatest economic collapse in the country's history;

— that the annual cost of childcare to parents is reduced by over €2,370 when a child is participating in the free pre-school year;

— the increased investment by Government to preserve the universality of the free pre-school year despite increased costs arising from increased demand;

— the findings from the "Growing Up in Ireland" study indicating that "one in four parents who availed of the free pre-school year said they would not have been able to send their child to pre-school had it not been for the scheme" and that "this rose to more than one in three among more disadvantaged families";

— the burden which childcare costs can place on low and middle income working families;agrees:— on the ongoing need to support the achievement of high quality standards in early years services;

— that the Government's focus on jobs and growth as the best means of recovering living standards will in turn further contribute to takeup of childcare;

— on the need to implement such quality improvements as a critical precursor to any future expansion in universal childcare provision, including the possible introduction of a second free pre-school year if resources allow; and

— that child income supports play a key role in sharing the costs of child rearing with families, including childcare costs;welcomes the implementation of the Pre-School Quality Agenda including:— the publication of pre-school inspection reports, with 2,530 reports now available online;

— the ongoing recruitment by the Child and Family Agency of early years inspectors to fill current vacancies;

— the allocation of €0.5 million in 2014 to allow the recruitment of further early years inspectors and to strengthen the national inspection services;

— the allocation of €2.5 million in 2014 to support the establishment of a new National Quality Support Service;

— the enactment, through the Child and Family Agency Act 2013, of amendments to the Child Care Act 1991 allowing for the introduction of statutory registration of early years services, the introduction of pre-prosecution enforcement functions for early years inspectors and the increase in penalties on foot of convictions at District Court level;

— the introduction of a new system of statutory registration of early years services commencing in 2014;

— the announced increase in qualification requirements for early years staff from September 2014; and

— the allocation of additional funding in 2013, 2014 and 2015 to support the training and upskilling of early years staff; and supports:

— the development in 2014 of an Early Years Strategy which will set out an overall approach to the improvement of quality in the early years sector;

— the carrying out during 2014 of a review of the aims of the targeted childcare schemes with a view to considering how any future expansion of the schemes, as resources allow, should be targeted to align with Government policy;

— the continued provision of in-work supports for low-income working families and assistance for unemployed parents to access employment, training or education programmes; and

— continued co-operation between the Departments of Social Protection and Children and Youth Affairs in relation to childcare and family income supports."

The Government's recently published medium-term economic strategy statement rightly recognises that "our increasing child and youth population is a significant resource for our country" and that "ensuring the best possible outcomes for this group is therefore an important element in our future economic planning." That is a very important statement and one that is not recognised or made often enough. Of course, as Deputies who have contributed to this debate so far have said, this means starting early. Since coming to office, I have consistently highlighted the importance of investing and supporting quality interventions in the early years of children's lives. I am glad to say there is an increasing body of Irish data on this issue. We are very data-rich about Irish children now where previously we relied on data from the US and elsewhere. We have invested heavily in and now have our own research so we have very detailed information on precisely how Irish children are doing. This evidence increasingly quantifies the benefits of early years interventions in terms of improving children's outcomes in areas of school-readiness and cognitive and behavioural development. The Growing Up in Ireland studies are quite fascinating in terms of what they tell us about how well children can do in school if one intervenes early and how their cognitive and emotional development is improved by that early intervention. That is why I established the early years strategy and asked the group to look at all of the initiatives we need to take across a range of Departments in respect of early years. The group published its report recently which was entitled Right from the Start.

At the same time, economists have begun to quantify both the return to the State and society from investment in the early years interventions, as well as the potential costs to taxpayers associated with unaddressed problems in early childhood. Deputies Browne and Ó Cuív made the point that if we do not invest early, we are storing up problems at a later stage. We can avoid many of those problems and costs if we do the right thing at an early enough stage. It is very clear that in Ireland, we have much to gain from early intervention.

I welcome this discussion. We have had discussions on child care in Topical Issue debates and frequently in the committee. It is good to have a discussion in the Dáil of early intervention, the range of child care supports we have in Ireland, the direction we are going in and the direction in which I would like to see us moving. That is what I intend to address tonight.

If we want to improve literacy and numeracy, which is critical, we must start early. If we want to disrupt the crisis of childhood obesity - a quarter of our three year olds are overweight or obese - we must start early. Put simply, early intervention works and the early years matter. There has been surprisingly little focus on the early years from a policy point of view in Ireland given the importance of those years. This is why this Government has protected the free preschool year. Deputies have commented on that and I will discuss it further. This is why this Government, along with Atlantic Philanthropies, is investing €30 million in the new area based childhood, ABC, programme supporting early interventions in 13 communities around the country and supporting, hopefully, in the longer term the development of at least 12 other areas where we are currently offering mentoring and support so that the same kind of services can be developed in those areas as we progress. Based on the work that is already being done on the early intervention programmes, we know what successful early intervention means and the kind of services one needs to give parents and very young children who have difficulties. We have the research from those three pilot projects in the Dublin area. We have very detailed research about what has actually worked. This is one of the reasons why we have established the new Child and Family Agency with an enhanced focus on prevention, early intervention and family support. This is why this Government is bringing in free GP care for children aged five and under. I recently attended and spoke at a conference in Brussels on health inequalities. It is very clear that the sort of universalism which that proposal encompasses is the right way to go in terms of getting the services to young children at an early stage and making sure one can address whatever problems they may have. GPs are in a unique position to do that.

Late last year, I published the report of the expert advisory group on the early years strategy, which is appropriately named Right from the Start. By setting out such a comprehensive range of recommendations for the continuum of service and support for Ireland's youngest children and their families from early childhood health, to supporting parents - we have many parenting programmes throughout the country for which there is huge demand and in which there is huge interest - to ensuring quality in early years provision, this report brings a much needed focus to areas of policy which for far too long were undervalued. I understand that the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children, of which Deputy Troy is a member, is to meet with members of the expert advisory group on 6 March 2014 for a discussion of its recommendations and I look forward to this feedback from the committee as my Department works to finalise the early years strategy.

In addition to supporting quality early interventions for childhood development, I am very conscious of the importance of child care in supporting parents engaged in employment, education and training. Many parents entrust their children to the care of relatives, friends or neighbours. However, many parents rely on early years services which currently provide day care services. Nearly 1,000 of these are community-based services and the remainder are commercially operated. Each of them faces different demands. Through both the community childcare subvention, CCS, and the childcare education and training support, CETS, programmes, which I will discuss further, my Department provides child care subvention to low-income working families, on which the motion moved by Deputy Troy focuses, and to those engaged in education, training and community employment.

It is also important in the context of this debate to refer to the very significant level of expenditure which this Government has managed to maintain in direct cash payment to children and families which this year is expected to amount to €2.2 billion.

It is interesting to examine the Mangan report and compare the direct income paid to families in Ireland with the amounts paid in other European countries. It can be argued that some of those countries have other services, but it is striking that Ireland is fourth out of 27 countries in terms of direct cash payments to parents. This is where we have invested much of our support to families in recent years. This funding will provide for child benefit payments to 600,000 families and family income supplement, FIS, payments to a further 42,000 low-paid working families. This helps share the cost to families of child rearing, including child care.

None the less, the Government fully accepts that we still have major issues with the affordability and accessibility of child care for working families. This is due to a variety of factors, including the focus on direct cash payments instead of subsidised care, which is the approach taken by other countries. Deputy Browne mentioned the Nordic model, under which the state subsidises the development of accessible, affordable child care to a significant degree. Historically, both parents in those states have worked outside the home for a longer period than has been the case in Ireland. Their system is also targeted somewhat, with parents paying some of the cost. It is a different model than ours, but we must base our model's development on the initiatives that we have already taken and I am unsure as to whether the full Nordic model is what Irish parents want. Rather, they would like flexibility and choice in the child care to which they have access.

As Deputy Troy indicated, the average weekly cost of a day care service is approximately €165. While this is a significant burden on low-income working parents, it is interesting to note that our information suggests that child care costs have reduced considerably. In 2008, for example, the average weekly cost was closer to €230. However, I agree that improving access to affordable, quality preschool and child care services is an objective that all Deputies share. Tonight's debate presents a valuable opportunity to reflect on this objective and on how we might go about addressing the inherent challenges it presents, particularly in the current climate of borrowings of €1 billion per month and people's calls for more resources. As the economy improves and resources become available, this is an important sector for us to develop and support.

A major challenge is that of supporting and ensuring the achievement of quality standards in preschool and child care services. Delivering quality improvements remains a prerequisite for any future expansion of preschool and child care support. Funding poses a considerable challenge. In 2014, my Department will spend €260 million on preschool and child care programmes. This represents a small fraction of the total of what is spent on direct cash payments to families.

I acknowledge that the funding available in the child care Estimates was once much higher, as Deputy Ó Cuív mentioned. In 2008, however, Deputy Troy's party, Fianna Fáil, abolished the early child care supplement while in government. It was worth €1,100 per year to parents of children aged under five years. In doing so, Fianna Fáil gave back to the Exchequer more than two thirds of the annual €480 million budget. Even a fraction of that money would have gone a long way towards extending free or subsidised child care provision, not to mention the fact that not one cent was re­invested in quality supports or new inspectors. This is the reality. Almost €300 million fell away from the child care sector.

The funding of €260 million available to me this year goes a long way towards funding a range of preschool and child care supports, some of which I have briefly referenced. For the benefit of the House, I will outline in more detail the current supports being provided by my Department as well as the measures being implemented and funded to improve quality. I will discuss how this relates to future possible developments aimed at improving access to affordable, quality preschool and child care services.

Through the early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme, all children have access to one free year of quality early years services. More that 68,000 preschool children benefit from this, representing 95% of all qualifying children at an annual cost of €175 million. The programme is delivered through more than 4,300 services and consists of three hours of early learning provision per day for five days each week over the course of 38 weeks. Funds permitting, one would like to see this programme developed in terms of the number of weeks and a second year. Findings from the "Growing Up in Ireland" longitudinal study prove the success of the current year in aiding young children's readiness for, and transition to, primary school. Further findings from "Growing Up in Ireland" indicate that one in four parents who availed of the free preschool year claimed that he or she would not have been able to send his or her child to preschool had it not been for the scheme and that this figure increased to more than one in three among more disadvantaged families. I agree with Deputy Troy that this programme has been a success. The Government has succeeded in maintaining the preschool year as a universal and free programme despite the increased costs arising from the growth in the number of children in recent years.

I have consistently outlined my position that I would support the introduction of a second universal preschool year. This proposal was endorsed in the recent report of the expert advisory group on the early years strategy. The introduction of a second year would benefit children's educational and developmental outcomes and prove significantly beneficial for children with special needs who attend our preschools. Some incorrect figures have been provided, but the majority of children with disabilities participate in the preschool year. Some do so over the course of two years because that suits them best. The key problem is the provision of supports in terms of personal care. We are working with the HSE and the Departments of Health and Education and Skills to try to improve the situation, given its importance. I take the points made by a number of Deputies in this regard.

A second preschool year would have economic benefits for families and the State. It would represent approximately €2,500 worth of free child care to parents and likely generate 4,000 to 5,000 new positions, mostly part-time. The current year already supports 7,000 jobs. For every ten or 11 additional child care places we provide, we will create one new job. This is a clear example of how investment in preschool child care services not only supports parents' labour force participation, but in itself represents a direct source of employment. The OECD also commented on the economic benefits of introducing a second year.

The introduction of a second preschool year would require considerable additional funding, however. I hope that this proposal is one that the Government can continue to work towards as our public finances recover. I will certainly do so.

In the meantime, delivering improvements in preschool quality standards and staff qualifications is a prerequisite for any further extension of universal child care provision, including any proposal to introduce a second free preschool year.

We are making progress on that issue of quality and standards.

I acknowledge the great efforts of front-line professionals and the high standards to which many of them work. The sector needs to be assured that all services will be supported and regulated to ensure high standards across the board. While there are some examples of poor practice, we must work with those services because quality is a must. Last year I outlined an eight point preschool quality agenda. I had to start from scratch with much of this work. There had been a huge focus on the bricks and mortar of child care facilities. I reopened the child care capital programme - previously closed by Fianna Fáil - allocating nearly €8.3million in 2012 and 2013. None the less, my focus is very much on supporting the people who make up the staff of these facilities and to improve quality standards. In the past eight months we have seen unprecedented progress in the implementation of the preschool quality agenda.

I have moved to address the serious issue of vacancies in the early years inspectorate in some parts of the country. Five of these posts are being filled and arrangements are under way to increase further the number of inspectors in place. In addition, the Child and Family Agency is expected to spend a further €1.1 million in 2014 to recruit more early years inspectors to strengthen the national inspection system. This expenditure will be met from increased registration fees, which will be payable by services as part of the new regulatory environment, and from additional funding of €500,000, which I have secured for this purpose. As part of the arrangements for establishing the new agency, I had been working for some time with the children and family services of the HSE - now the Child and Family Agency - to standardise and improve the resources and work practices of the early years inspectorate.

In January, Part VII of the Child Care Act 1991, which governs the regulation of early years services, was replaced with new legislative provisions brought in as part of the Child and Family Agency Act 2013. Deputies who took part in the debate on that Bill will be aware that it included the introduction of a new registration system for early years services, as well as new powers which can be used by the inspectors before the stage of prosecution. Inspectors will now be able to impose improvement orders on services which, if not complied with, can result in de-registration of the service. In addition, the fine which can be imposed on a service on foot of a successful prosecution has been increased to the maximum fine permissible.

There are also new qualification criteria for staff working in the service. There has been a great take-up by the sector of the training that is available, leading to increased qualifications, including the minimum qualifications we are seeking. To provide for these and other changes, I will shortly be introducing new regulations, accompanied by national quality standards. These will provide the basis against which services will be inspected and reported on. The intention is to support services to work towards higher standards of quality while providing clearer criteria against which to measure and report on their existing levels of compliance.

We now have a more transparent situation. More than 2,500 reports have been published online. These reports were carried out over the years and the new inspections are regularly being put online. It is also my intention to begin work later this year on new regulations for afterschool care, an area which, up to now, has been unregulated. I would encourage parents to ask to see reports from the services which they are using, if they are not online. We will also work later this year on new regulations for afterschool care, something Deputy Troy mentioned and which is certainly needed. It has gone unregulated up to now. We will also be introducing the new national quality support service for early years services. An additional funding provision of €2.5 million has been allocated in 2014 to provide for that, which is a landmark development in this area. My Department and I are continuing consultation ahead of making decisions on the structure of this new service. The new service will have a new practice manual, which will bring the key principles of Síolta and Aistear together in a more user-friendly way. This is being developed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment.

I believe what I have outlined represents a comprehensive response from my Department and this Government to addressing quality standards in early years services, an issue which was not adequately tackled up to now. Despite the constraints on public spending, I have secured an additional €4.5 million in 2014 to support the sector in implementing these quality child care improvement measures. This investment in the sector and the reforms I have overseen will provide a strong foundation for the expansion of preschool provision and child care supports, including a hoped-for second free preschool year and the development of targeted child care supports, to which I will now turn.

The early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme is a universal programme. I recognise the need to target additional resources to disadvantaged and low-income parents in order to help them with the cost of their child care. The two programmes which do that are the community childcare subvention, CCS, scheme, and the childcare education and training support, CETS scheme. Together these schemes have a total funding allocation of €70 million for 2014 and are being used throughout the country. The CCS scheme is available in 950 community-based early years services throughout the State and 25,000 children avail of subsidised child care places. Parents qualify for the higher rate of subsidy of €95 per week where they hold a medical card or qualify for family income supplement. Parents qualify for a lower rate of subsidy of €50 per week where they hold a GP visit card. In addition, parents who are seeking employment can avail of the €50 per week subsidy for part-time child care. This is an important aid to parents.

The CETS scheme is available for parents who are returning to work, education or training. Some 2,500 children avail of child care places which are subsidised at a rate of €145 per week. Parents qualify if they attend certain training our educational courses and are required to contribute a maximum of €25 per week towards the cost of the place. As the total cost which a service is permitted to charge for one of these places is capped at €170 per week, this scheme is open to both not-for-profit and for-profit services. Deputy Troy mentioned that in his motion. The community child care scheme is not, and that is the appropriate decision.

I have also been working with the Department of Social Protection to test the demand for and effectiveness of new child care schemes targeting certain categories of clients of that Department. This year, in collaboration with the Department of Social Protection, we will provide an additional 1,800 subsidised places for community employment, CE, workers under the CETS scheme. An allocation of €9.5 million is being provided in 2014 for these schemes. It is clear that we recognise the need to support parents who are having difficulty with the cost of child care and that these schemes operate throughout the country and are available to many parents.

As has been my approach with the free preschool year, sectoral reforms and improvements need to be made before new initiatives can be rolled out. I will be adopting the same approach to the child care schemes which are being implemented by my Department. The Government is committing significant resources to the CCS and CETS schemes. However, my Department and I are to begin a review and evaluation of the two schemes as they currently exist with a view to considering how best to structure future child care support to support low income working families and to incentivise labour market activation, which could eventually be expanded to more families as resources allow.

I acknowledge the recent report by Indecon, commissioned by Donegal County Childcare Committee, which looked at many measures and which are addressed in the Fianna Fáil motion.

As I indicated when I launched the report, I will examine the findings and recommendations from Indecon when conducting the review of the two departmental schemes to which I referred.

The State has invested heavily in the capital development of Ireland's preschool and child care services and it is important that we sustain this infrastructure to meet the needs of children and their parents. The introduction of the ECCE programme and continued investment in child care schemes, which reduce the cost of child care for parents, have helped to sustain the preschool and child care sector, including the jobs of more than 20,000 people which it employs. Many of those employed in the sector have emphasised to me how important it has been in this difficult economic period that the child care sector has been sustained and is viable. I am aware, however, of the broader challenges facing the sector and the needs of those working in it, including issues related to career development and salaries.

In the past six years, in particular in the period from 2008 until 2010, demand for child care declined dramatically as take-up of child care places was affected by reductions in disposable income, the downturn in employment and emigration.

I hope the position I have outlined with respect to the preparation of Ireland's first ever early years strategy, the implementation of the preschool quality agenda, the review I have announced of targeted supports and the laying of building blocks for future expansion in preschool and child care supports will cumulatively provide a sustainable future for the sector, support parents and families and, most important, improve outcomes for our youngest children.

In light of the considerable investment that the Government continues to make in preschool and child care services, I am pleased to propose the Government's amendment.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the opportunity to address this motion on the important subject of child care. I am pleased to confirm that Sinn Féin will support the motion tabled by Deputy Robert Troy.

Child care is a right and policy must be geared to the needs of children and families, rather than solely to the needs of the labour market. The State still has one of the lowest rates of child care provision in the European Union. Many families on lower incomes either cannot get child care or must pay a disproportionate amount of their income on weekly child care bills. The lack of quality, affordable child care prevents many women who wish to do so from working outside the home. There is an absolute and urgent need to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy for child care provision.

While some progress has been made since Sinn Féin first raised this demand in 2004, this Government, as with its predecessor, has been far too slow to act. Sinn Féin, in our policy document, Education and Childcare – Reaching our Full Potential, proposed State-led provision of regulated comprehensive child care to be made available to all, equally and as of right and funded by general, direct and progressive taxation. This would include universal early childhood education and care, universal preschool for children aged from three to five years and an after-school child care system.

In addition, greater recognition is needed of the economic and social value of parents providing full-time care directly. All parents who wish to spend the first year caring for their child full-time should have an entitlement to do so. Employers should provide more flexibility for working parents to provide child care directly, when necessary and without penalty. We also propose that full-time family caring should be recognised by the pension system through gender neutral carers' credits.

We have called for a phased introduction of universal child care as a right, including immediately providing for a universal preschool session of 3.5 hours per day, five days a week for all children aged between three and five years; expanding child care investment to increase capital, staffing and operational funding; establishing a single accrediting body to inspect, evaluate and register all early childhood care and education providers; establishing a national pay scale for early childhood care and education workers; introducing universal training and accreditation for child care workers; and expanding supports for parents providing full-time care, including through the introduction of one year at 100% of pay and two weeks' paid paternity leave entitlements as an interim step towards four weeks' leave to harmonise these rights on an all-Ireland basis.

These recommendations were made at the height of the so-called boom years when the country was in a much stronger financial position. It is obvious that if they had been accepted and implemented at that time, we would not be in the current position, families would not have to contend with all they have to contend with and there would not be the same need for this motion. As far back as October 2000 - 14 years ago - during a Dáil debate on the national development plan, I called for the entire amount of revenue due from the banks in unpaid DIRT tax to be earmarked for the provision of accessible and affordable child care services. This would have ensured that children were properly cared for in the context of a growing economy where increasing numbers of people were experiencing great difficulty meeting the demands of family and work. The more things change, the more they stay the same. The experience of working families and stay-at-home mothers who wish to return to the labour market has changed little in the intervening years.

The recent Indecon report commissioned by the Donegal County Childcare Committee offered further significant insight into the economic and social impact of policy decisions in this sector. The report, which is entitled Supporting Working Families: Releasing a Brake on Economic Growth, confirmed what many of us recognise to be the reality, namely, that high child care costs are putting one quarter of parents off returning to the workplace or seeking opportunities to commence employment, with most low income families finding the cost impossible to meet. The report indicates that a two child family faces an annual bill of €16,500 for full-time child care, with the average full-time cost over a ten month period estimated at €9,150 for one child and €16,470 for two children. This places Ireland at the second highest point in the scale in terms of costs across all OECD member countries.

The report recommends that targeted child care initiatives should focus on lower income families, with members who are either in employment or unemployed but anxious to secure employment. This should be done among several other initiatives. We are losing the services of one quarter of potential workers because of the prohibitive cost of child care.

Indecon found that a child care amendment to the current family income supplement would be a good policy initiative to encourage unemployed parents back into employment and assist lower income parents to remain in employment. It makes the case that any labour market policy initiatives should consider the current employment status of the targeted groups. The report also points out that employment focused child care policy initiatives should be aimed at either encouraging parents to enter the labour market or increasing their working status from part-time to full-time. These are specific areas of recommendation and the report is most helpful in that regard.

Indecon also strongly recommends that beneficiaries of the incentive be restricted to tax compliant and HSE registered child care providers. It also makes the point, on which I would strongly reflect, that whatever steps are taken in this extremely important area, their impact must be monitored, evaluated and assessed.

After three years, a detailed report should be prepared in order to give the full facts as to the success or otherwise of the initiatives involved. Consideration of the recommendations is critical. This is a major issue. We must establish what steps are now being proposed by the Minister.

I raised these matters with the Minister in our most recent exchange at Question Time at which time I welcomed, as I have done on many occasions, her commitment to examine not only the report’s recommendations, but the child education and training support and community child care subvention schemes to see if there is a better way of organising the services to facilitate parents who want to get back to work. This will require the engagement of other Departments, most notably the Department of Social Protection. I urge that the greater economic and social benefit of such positive moves be recognised when considering the merits of such changes.

I would further encourage the Minister to reference the experience in the North of Ireland, where the Executive recently published its strategy for affordable and integrated child care entitled, Bright Start. As is so often the case, and this is especially true in relation to the subject of child care, one does not have to reinvent the wheel. We should seek to work towards best practice. I am aware that exploratory trips have been taken to Scandinavia to learn from their vast experience. Others have travelled this road before and can show the way. It is a matter of recognising the importance of the issues at hand and having the political will to see improvements implemented and realised. I commend such engagement and consideration to the Minister.

I again welcome this motion and the opportunity to address this most important issue.

Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion and thank Deputy Troy for bringing it before the House.

Good quality child care that provides positive experiences and promotes children's opportunities to develop is a starting point for lifelong achievement. Unfortunately, this has yet to become the reality for families in Ireland. With rising costs and tough economic conditions, many people are experiencing financial pressures and child care costs has become a second mortgage. Sinn Féin supports much of what is in the motion but we will not take lectures from Fianna Fáil on child care. In government, Fianna Fáil did nothing to assist middle and low income families to access quality, affordable child care.

Sinn Féin believes that child care is a right and policy must be geared to the needs of children and families rather than solely to the needs of the labour market. This State still has one of the lowest rates of child care provision in the EU. Child care costs almost one third of the average disposable income of a double income family. It has become the second mortgage. Many families on low incomes either cannot access child care or must pay a disproportionate amount of their income on massive weekly child care bills. The lack of quality affordable child care prevents many women who wish to do so from working outside the home. There is an urgent need to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy for child care provision. The provision of affordable and quality child care is a priority for Sinn Féin. The difference between Sinn Féin and other parties is that Sinn Féin when given the opportunity does deliver.

In September of last year, Sinn Féin launched Bright Start, which is the Northern Assembly's programme for affordable and integrated child care. Bright Start and its key first actions aim to address the need for a programme of affordable and integrated child care. Sinn Féin believes that work is a sure path out of disadvantage and wants Bright Start to help as many people as possible in taking that path. To enable us identify the priority needs of people living here, we have listened to parents and child care providers. Despite not having any tax raising powers in the Assembly and an ever-decreasing budget from the Tory Government in London, the first actions of the Bright Start strategy will include the creation of 3,000 places for school age child care targeted at families in need and 2,000 places in the school estate. It will also support a rural child minder package to create an additional 1,000 places in rural locations and develop a scheme to improve outcomes for disabled children.

We believe this Government should have the following goals and should work to achieve them within the lifetime of this Dáil: to support the provision of the best care for all children; to enable all parents to reconcile their child care needs with participation in the labour force, education and training; to enable all parents to exercise their choice to care for their children full-time up to one year old; to enable all parents to access affordable child care for their children; to establish universal State provision of preschool for all children from the age of three to five years; and to establish a universal provision of early childhood care and education based on the best international models.

Sinn Féin will be supporting Deputy Troy's motion.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The remaining five minutes is being shared by Deputies Maureen O'Sullivan and Thomas Pringle.

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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At the heart of tonight's Private Members' business is the creation of a more level playing field for parents in respect of child care. I want to acknowledge the work of Deputy Troy and the manner in which the motion sets out the various services that are provided through the community and private and public sectors, the number of staff employed therein and the number of children in child care of one form or another. I also acknowledge the fine work being done by the community child care facilities and after school clubs in my constituency of Dublin Central.

I recently received a letter from a constituent which I believe is relevant to tonight's debate. The letter outlines the stress which the woman and her family are under as a result of the cost of child care. It states that 44% of the family's net income is spent on crèche costs for three children. Both parents work full-time, one in the public sector and the other in the private sector. The letter states that they have been sensible, pay their mortgage and live a quiet life because all of their money goes on crèche fees. The Minister has acknowledged the relatively high cost of child care and has stated that she is aware of the difficulties in this regard. The constituent asks in her letter that crèche fees be taken from their gross rather than net pay. The Minister said that this proposal was considered in the context of the targeted child care supports but that the issues do not favour child care tax relief because it would not support parents working in the home, it could be seen as discriminatory and that the reliefs would favour the better paid. The stay-at-home parent is not paid but he or she also does not have child care costs. The term "better paid" is relative because it is precluding people who are in genuine need of help with child care costs in order to remain in full-time employment. If they remain in employment, they pay their taxes to the State and are able to pay their property tax, etc. Coming out of employment would result in their becoming a burden on the State. I believe that the introduction of some tax credit is a better and more economic alternative than adding to the numbers of people already unemployed. Tax credits means more spending power for the family.

The Minister outlined the various programmes available. The woman concerned cannot access the CCS programme because she is not in receipt of social welfare; the CETS programme is for trainees and students and while she does avail of the ECCE programme she must pay for the first half hour and the final hour and a half of the child's stay at creche. The Minister stated that she is reviewing all child care supports and that her aim is affordable quality preschool care, which is everybody's concern. I hope recognition will be given to those parents who are in the middle group, want to and are working, and do not want to have to give up their employment.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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Child care costs and the availability of places in affordable child care are the biggest barriers to women in particular in accessing the workforce. Every week in my clinics I meet women, lone parents and married, who are being put under pressure by the Department of Social Protection to actively seek work but who cannot access not only affordable but any child care that would allow them to access work if there was any work out there for them. They are being told this is not acceptable.

While I support this motion, I believe the measures proposed are only stop gaps and are not sustainable child care solutions.

Child care costs account for 29% of a couple's net income and 51% of lone parents' income. In the European Union the comparable figure are 9.8% and 9.9% respectively. A family in this State with two children in full-time child care will spend over €16,000 per year providing for it.

The use of relatives is the most common form of non-parental child care in the State with only 27% of children being cared for in centre-based care. This clearly shows that cost is a major factor for parents in accessing child care.

The solution to this problem is not a piecemeal system of supports for children, a system of social welfare provision and tax breaks as outlined in the motion. Such a system will only continue to fragment child care provision in the State and will not provide for long-term solutions. We need a system in which preschool and child care services are provided along the lines of the education system in the country. An integrated child care and education system is the only long-term and sustainable solution.

The only way operators in the private and community child care sector can reduce their costs is through low wages. This means most staff in the child care sector, many of whom have studied and attained qualifications, are working for the minimum wage and, in some cases, even less. The OECD identified wages as an issue in a recent report:

Competitive wages attract a strong professional staff that is more likely to be satisfied with their jobs, perform well and make long-term career commitments leading to lower staff turnover rates. The latter generally results in stronger relationships between staff and children, calmer, less aggressive child behaviour, and improved language development. Staff with low wages are more likely to take on second jobs, lowering their performance through greater fatigue and less commitment.