Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister to the House. I listened with interest to the debate and thought all the contributions were excellent. I thought it would be a case of "Blessed art thou amongst women" but as Senator Kett has intervened, I am not alone here. It has been the case with many men over the years that we have not taken our share of the responsibilities for child care, and I put my hand up in that regard.

Ireland has changed significantly in the past ten to 15 years. Social and cultural changes have had a profound effect. Many families have two parents at work due to the necessity to pay for mortgages. They are forced to juggle the needs of their children and the demands of their careers or education. The squeeze is often harder on those lower down the income scale and those who are caring alone. The traditional pattern of the family, with the male earner and the female dependant at home caring for the children, is no longer the norm in Irish society.

The Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-2006 is an attempt to address the need for affordable, quality child care facilities. I acknowledge that the funding to date has made a difference in many areas. However, the Minister will be the first to acknowledge that much more needs to be done. The number of applications for capital assistance for deserving and worthwhile projects that have not received funding to date is a cause of great concern to the organisations involved. One example is my own constituency of Waterford. In Waterford city, of five community based projects, only one, the Larchville-Lisduggan project, has had funding allocated to date. There is a pressing need for child care facilities in this area, which I have represented for well over 20 years, and I have no doubt that the money would be well spent.

Another positive aspect of the equal opportunities programme and the capital assistance scheme is that the grant aid is normally allocated for the full amount, allowing organisations to access it without the necessity of a local contribution, which was always a stumbling block in disadvantaged areas. While I am pleased with the allocation in the Larchville-Lisduggan area, four other projects in the city — at the St. Brigid's family centre, Farran Park, Ferrybank and the women's centre in Manor Street — are still in limbo. They do not know whether they are to receive funding this year or in coming years.

The situation in County Waterford is similar. Dungarvan has received no funding for community based groups under the equal opportunities programme and capital assistance scheme. Likewise, Lismore has received no funding to date. County Waterford is in receipt of the lowest level of funding of all counties. Dungarvan, for a town of its size, has no purpose-built child care facility although there is an acute shortage of child care places across the spectrum of child care services. Even those who can afford to pay are faced with long waiting lists. There is evidence to suggest that many people are losing out on opportunities to participate in employment, education and training because of the lack of child care facilities in Dungarvan.

Another important point which is mirrored throughout the country is that many parents active in community groups and, therefore, in contact with educational and training services, are unable to get involved due to the lack of flexible and affordable child care. This is particularly so for women and lone parent families. Will the Minister indicate when these projects will be reappraised? Is it likely they will receive funding this year or in coming years?

OECD studies show that female employment in Ireland is at the EU average of 56%, an increase of 140% since 1971, which is a staggering development. Women's participation in the labour force is expected to grow by a further 218,000 by 2011. However, the number of parents raising children alone has risen. Employment rates among lone parents are low and lone parent families are disproportionately at risk of poverty. Child care and other supports are necessary to allow them to access work, training and education, where necessary, to support their families.

There is a growing awareness of the balance of rights and responsibilities among families, from children to parents and even grandparents. It is possible to have a society which values and supports childhood and the family, and to have public policies which enhance that value and support. Family support must be concentrated on meeting the needs of families. It should include more than health and well-being needs and should extend to the wider social inclusion needs of the family.

For lower-income families, the gap has widened. Not all families can afford transport to visit dispersed family members, child care for working parents or the latest in electronic games to compensate for the lack of local play facilities. For other families on the average industrial wage, the need for both parents to work to pay the mortgage or to provide for family medical bills is a prerequisite. For many, there is no element of choice for one parent to work or stay at home to care for the children.

The growing pressures facing families have been ignored. Rapid development has heaped disproportionate burdens on young families but especially young mothers. Work-life balance has become an issue because of wide-ranging economic and social changes. Over recent decades the support of extended families and communities has been diluted.

When surveyed in 2002, 62% of mothers and 86% of fathers said they would like to spend more time with their families. While one in six of the population is in part-time work, over 70% of such workers are women. There is a general feeling in Ireland that those people who avail of initiatives such as job sharing and part-time work are less serious about their careers than those who do not have these opportunities. This is especially the case for people in higher status jobs. A recent survey shows that over 75% of respondents were reluctant to take parental leave, feeling that it would hinder their chances of promotion at work; 50% said they could not afford to take unpaid parental leave, an issue we have addressed. It is not financially possible for a family to avail of unpaid parental leave. One in five respondents said their employers would not facilitate taking such leave, another issue that has been addressed.

This must change if we are to promote family-friendly working arrangements and a greater sharing of gender roles. Parents at work need more flexibility to deal with both longer term child care and emergencies involving their children during the day. Employers must remember that it is family members they employ and not just productive units. If families are dislocated firms will not be immune to the effects. Employers and the State must accept responsibility for this. We should review labour law to recognise the changes needed to accommodate a situation where both parents work and share in the obligations of parenting. We should also incentivise employers to assist the development of family-friendly work practices.

Increasing the provision of adequate child care means more than encouraging women to return permanently to the workforce. Child care should be primarily a caring, developmental and early education service for the child and a service for parents. The policy focus on child care has been on its benefit to the labour market or its use as a poverty relief measure rather than as a support system for contemporary Irish families to show that they are valued. Parents today have difficulty finding local, affordable, accessible and high-quality services for their children. This must not continue. I echo the call for the long overdue tax relief on child care expenses.