Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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8. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the current role, including programmes and schemes, of the county child care committees; and if further responsibilities could be transferred to the child care committees, particularly in view of the way the flexible structure of the child care committees has enabled them to take on additional tasks in recent years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14205/14]

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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My question refers to the current role, programmes and schemes of the county and city child care committees and whether further responsibilities could be transferred to these committees, given their flexible structure.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Kyne for his question. I welcome the opportunity to speak about the child care committees. Thirty-three city and county child care committees were established in 2001 under the office of the Minister of State with responsibility for children to help support the development of local child care. The current role of the committees is to assist the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in improving and expanding the quality of child care services available to parents in their area. The committees offer information and guidance locally on a wide variety of services, including advice on establishing a child care business, organising child care information sessions and supporting parents by providing information on local facilities and parent networks. The committees also have a significant role in the delivery of a range of child care support programmes which are currently implemented by the Department.

Each committee submits an annual implementation plan which outlines its strategy for the year and the annual funding level is determined on the basis of this plan. The implementation plan provides for a range of activities to be undertaken by the committees and identifies locally focused initiatives which are designed to address specific local needs. In 2014, a total of just over €10 million has been allocated to the child care committees. All Deputies will acknowledge that these committees have played an important role in the development of child care services in local areas since their introduction in 2001. They have worked closely with this Department and previously with the former office of the Minister for Children in co-ordinating the increase in the number of child care places in their areas. The introduction of the additional support programmes and the expansion of the existing programmes have significantly increased the workload undertaken by the committees.

In answer to the Deputy's question, the committees will continue to play a key role in the ongoing development of child care services and will have a central role in supporting the implementation of new and emerging child care policy developments, including in the area of quality improvements. Future developments with respect to child care committees can be further considered in the context of the establishment this year of a new national quality support service for early years and child care services which forms a key objective of my eight-point agenda to improve quality standards in early years and child care services. Increasingly, the Department works collectively with the committees. It is important to bring together the information and the views of the child care committees in order to have a national picture of their work. They have tended to work locally, but we are focusing on bringing them together and obtaining good-quality data from them and also having the benefit of their insights about what is happening in order to identify key issues in the sector and, indeed, key solutions.

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for her reply. I appreciate that the vast majority of child care committees work well and are improving the quality and availability of child care. They now have an important role working with the new Tusla programme. The Minister referred to the recent announcement about the national quality support service. Her reply refers to an opportunity for the child care committees, based on their strong local knowledge and their work with the early years services, to provide support for the role of the national quality support service. The focus on quality in services is welcome. Will additional services to support and improve quality be channelled through the existing support services such as the support groups and the child care committees, given their local contacts and knowledge?

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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We have begun to bring the local child care committees together and they have formed an umbrella group called Child Care Committees Ireland. This is a very positive development, and I thank the representative body for its work in this regard. It has made an input into the development of the new national quality support service. I will be holding a round-table meeting in the next two weeks which will be attended by Child Care Committees Ireland and national child care organisations to consult on plans for this service and to examine the overarching national architecture required to improve quality in early years and child care services. I agree with the Deputy that the input of the child care committees, because of their local presence, will continue to be important. They will play a vital role in the years ahead.

I look forward to ongoing discussion with them about their key role at a national level. I will take on board their suggestions about the new learner service and the mentoring service. I welcome their work within the umbrella group and their work with the other national organisations such as Early Childhood Ireland. Such collaboration will provide the best information and strategic advice about the future of the sector.