Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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28. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on the report Childcare, Early Education and Socio-Emotional Outcomes at Age 5 by the Economic and Social Research Institute (details supplied) and to make particular reference to the finding that high-quality child care can offset disadvantages, such as social disadvantage; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33532/16]

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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My question relates to child care. I am sure the Minister noted the survey that showed children brought up in a child care setting with a childminder or in a crèche fare no better or no worse than children brought up by their parents. That is very important because there is much guilt felt by women in this regard. High-quality care in a centre can offset potential negative effects of social disadvantage and family factors, which I saw as a teacher in west Tallaght for many years. Children who had been in centre-based settings were more able to learn readily when they came to school.

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I am delighted to see research being produced that uses the excellent data provided by the Growing Up in Ireland study funded by my Department. I aim to ensure that all child care policies are firmly grounded in evidence, and I welcome this report as a contribution to that evidence base. The study is a useful contribution to our knowledge about care of children at age three and the impacts of this care. The single affordable child care scheme will be open to children from the age of six months up to age three on a universal basis, with targeted support for those most in need at that age range, and for older children. As such, children in the age category captured by the study will qualify for funding under the new scheme. Many of them are likely to qualify for funding under current schemes.

The study's findings that half of children are in non-parental care at age three, and that more than half of these are in formal child care services, mirrors the Department's existing knowledge of usage patterns. The study also found that family financial difficulties, such as debt problems and difficulty making ends meet, were associated with poorer outcomes for children. This accords with international evidence. Findings such as this strengthen my commitment to working with the Department of Social Protection and other partners to reduce child poverty and deprivation. In relation to the impact of care, overall the study suggests that five year olds cared for in centre-based care, or indeed other forms of non-parental care at age three, are as emotionally and socially healthy as children in parental care. The study also finds that a range of other factors relating to child and family characteristics are of far greater importance for five year olds' emotional and social well-being. Some evidence that centre-based care provides more beneficial effects for children from disadvantaged backgrounds are noted in the study but the effects are small.

The Deputy referred in particular to the issue of high-quality care and the potential this has to offset social disadvantage. The study does not comment on quality of care available in Ireland directly. Rather, it highlights a need for more research on the quality of child care settings and providers and on differential impacts of different levels of care quality. I am committed to initiating a baseline review of quality in the sector as an initial step towards this.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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I am glad the Minister mentioned the Growing Up in Ireland survey and the scheme she introduced in the budget because the survey finds 42% are brought up by family relatives, 31% are brought up by non-relatives, as in childminders, and only 27% are brought up in centre-based crèches, yet the scheme she introduced in the budget caters only for the minority of parents who use centre-based crèches. The difficulty with childminders is that many are not registered. Many are women who could not afford to go back to work and who mind, for a short few years, the children of neighbours or others they know.

The Government has chosen to introduce a scheme that will benefit a minority of parents directly at the expense of a child benefit increase to all parents.

Child benefit needs to be restored and there must be radical reform. The system should be tweaked to facilitate more families and made available to all families on an equal basis.

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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The approach that I have taken under budget 2017 is a radical new departure, but it is just a first step. A key aspect of this first step has to do with ensuring more efficient and targeted support for lower income families, in particular those with children and that are living in poverty. It will be effective in that regard over time and more effective - I agree that a policy choice was taken - than increasing child benefit universally by €5 or so on. We decided that targeting child care subsidies that, in their initial phase, supported lower income families in a stronger way than medium or higher income families would be more effective in reducing child poverty and supporting people.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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I was not for a minute suggesting that it was one versus the other, namely, a choice between restoring child benefit or providing childminding services. The only way to ensure that all families can access child care is for it to be publicly provided and viewed as being important for children and for allowing women to work on an equal basis. Just as first and second level education is now accepted as being something that the State should provide, the same should be the case for preschool child care. When the Minister mentioned on RTE radio what she had introduced in the budget, she stated that she had decided to give money to public services rather than parents. The problem is that child care in Ireland is not a public service. It is utterly private. It has been outsourced to the private for-profit sector, leading to the highest child care costs and badly paid workers who have poor conditions of employment and a lack of fulfilment. An investment of €2 billion is required if we are to reach the level of service that is provided in countries like those in Scandinavia, but that would involve us taxing multinationals and ending our position as a tax haven.

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I do not want Ireland to be a tax haven either. The Deputy's major point was on moving towards child care being publicly provided. Some aspects of our child care system are publicly provided, namely, preschool. A significant portion of the budget that I have delivered for 2017 will ensure that we have two full years of free preschool. Strictly speaking, it may not be public provision in the same way as our school system has developed, but funds are available for two full years of private, not-for-profit and community preschool services. In this sense, there is public provision of that aspect of child care.