Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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106. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will provide the details of his proposed child care plan; the way it will make child care more affordable; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2371/15]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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Last week’s front page of the Irish Independenthad a story following a leak from the Department of Children and Youth Affairs that the Government would introduce tax credits to help families crippled by the costs of child care. Subsequently, we learned this was in fact not the case and that, instead, the Government was bringing forward a plan in this regard. Will the Minister inform the Dáil what the Government will do after four years in power to help families crippled by the costs of child care?

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I am tempted to say we did more than Fianna Fáil did in 14 years in power but then that would be unfair.

There is clear evidence that investing in child care services which provide quality care and education for children in their early years pays significant dividends for both the children themselves and for society as a whole. Ensuring the best possible outcomes for children in their early years is, therefore, an important element in future economic planning.

The case for investing in children and young people on both social and economic grounds is supported by a body of international evidence. As the Minister with responsibility for this key area, I propose to establish a cross-departmental group at senior level to develop a whole-of-government approach to future investment in early childhood care and education and after-school care.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Another committee.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The group will undertake an economic and cost-benefit analysis of policies and future options for increasing the supply, accessibility and affordability of quality childhood care and education services.

It is clear accessibility, affordability and high-quality child care can play a critical role in achieving several Government priorities, including improving educational outcome for children, reducing poverty and increasing parents' participation in the labour market.

The importance of this area is reinforced by continuing economic improvement and job growth and an increased focus on activation for those currently outside the labour market. To ensure that all the potential benefits can be realised, future public investment in child care must be evidence based and strategically co-ordinated. It must look at the provision right across the nought to six age group as well as consider the after-school needs of school-going children. It is crucial, therefore, that we develop a coherent cross-Government approach to investment in child care services.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I thought the whole purpose of having a new Department of Children and Youth Affairs was to co-ordinate all this. The Minister has had four years in office and I remind him of what the Government has done in those four years regarding the cost of child care. It has reduced child benefit, taxed maternity benefit and reduced the capitation rates that are paid to the child care providers. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, promised a Scandinavian model and what we got was 6,000 after-school places. After 18 months of that scheme being in operation, fewer than 100 places have been taken up. In November 2013 the then Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald, promised a review of the community child care scheme and the community education and training support scheme. That review has yet to take place. If the Minister wants to talk about the previous Government's record on child care, we created 65,000 places and ensured there was a proper infrastructure in place for the sector. We introduced a fee preschool year. In the last two budgets, my party put forward fully costed proposals on how we could look at dealing with the crippling costs of child care facing so many families.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Thank you, Deputy.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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If this Government was serious about dealing with this issue it would have used budget 2015 to deal with it, instead of announcing two weeks after that budget came into effect that it was going to establish yet another committee to look into a problem we already know is there.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Dead right, hear, hear.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Indeed, as the Deputy works himself up into a lather, we know that problem is there, and that one of the main reasons it is there is the state of the economy as we found it. There is no escaping that, although Deputy Troy might not want to be reminded of it. He personally, as opposed to the party he purports to represent here, may very well not have been in government then. The bottom line is that child care has become like a second mortgage for families and the costs around it, and this Government wants to put in place a coherent, properly-costed approach to support parents and children and to get the best outcomes. We know every euro spent in the early years gives the biggest dividend, but we also know families are struggling with the cost of after-school care for children who go to school and that there are concerns about what is available to teenage schoolgoers after school. Clearly, one of the underlying principles that we will be seeking to address will be to use our influence as a State to ensure that parents have choice, that it is affordable, but that we have some control over standards and the quality of care that their children receive. People want to be assured that when their child is in a facility, he or she is not just safe but is flourishing.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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We all support quality child care provision and no one is questioning that. Anybody who is in receipt of State support should be fully tax-compliant and should meet the standards set out by the Department. That is fact and taken as a given. What we saw last week, however, was more spin by this Government, aided and abetted by the Irish Independent as it is so capable of doing in recent years. The fact of the matter is that the current Government is four years in power. We do not need another committee or another report. We have report after report highlighting and confirming that child care costs in Ireland are now among the highest in the OECD. An average family with two children is paying 40% of its net income. We have produced suggestions and solutions if this Government was of a mind to support them. Every budget that is introduced involves political choices and in the last four budgets this Government introduced, it did not do anything to support affordable child care. When will this Government act to ensure that we will have quality, affordable child care for the tens of thousands of families out there that are crippled with the cost now?

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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What the Deputy says is utterly untrue. In the last budget there was an increase in children's allowance and extra money was made available to my Department to could support the Child and Family Agency. There was also a reduction in the marginal rate of tax, an increase in the threshold at which people moved into the higher rate of tax and reductions in the universal social charge. A further 80,000 were taken out of the net of the Fianna Fáil tax, the universal social charge. Much has been done by the Government, despite the ferocious challenges it faced when it took power and had to deal with the unprecedented financial mess in which Fianna Fáil had left the country.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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The question is about the cost of child care.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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It was an unprecedented financial mess in which Fianna Fáil had left not only parents and children but the entire country. Furthermore, our international reputation was in tatters. It is very easy for the Deputy to come into the Chamber and advert to the fact that we have been in power for four years and pick a specific area, in which, in fact, much has been done, but he is seeking for more to be done. To paraphrase Mr. Bill Clinton, the problem for those in Fianna Fáil is that it has taken us so long to clean up their mess.