Tom Parlon (Laois-Offaly, Progressive Democrats)

I thank Senators for their contributions. This is a timely debate and of interest to parents throughout the country. As Senator Brady said, child care is not just an issue for parents but is of central importance to the ongoing support of our economy and the need to achieve better social inclusion. This is why IBEC and ICTU keep the issue at the forefront of social partnership talks. It is also why the Government has increased the level of support for the equal opportunities child care programme to almost €500 million and has made a commitment to ongoing support for the programme following the completion of the National Development Plan 2000-2006. The case for tax breaks and reliefs have been well made. It is an issue that will be examined.

The Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Fahey, outlined the many successes of the equal cost opportunities child care programme. I know from personal experience in Mountmellick, Ferbane and An Daingean that such schemes can give a large boost to communities. In terms of overall commitment 20,500 new child care places have been achieved and funding has been approved for a further 13,000. The first phase of the EOCP was never expected to satisfy all of the needs of the child care sector, of parents or of Irish society. It was to be, and indeed has been, a large step in that direction. The Government has, however, increased its financial commitment to the child care sector on a number of occasions over the past five years and, without doubt, the completion of the programme and its successor will go a long way to achieving a level of quality child care which will compare favourably to the rest of Europe.

The Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, indicated that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, expects to announce further capital grants in the near future, possibly before Easter. The Minister will make further announcements of capital funding for community groups to address local needs thereafter. Value for money is a major criteria in these situations. Some of the programmes I have recently encountered have focussed on how to take best advantage of the funding in value for money terms. When Members reflect on the achievements to date in terms of Government intervention and the response of community groups on the ground, they will acknowledge that we are at a very exciting phase in developing this service from a very limited base.

We will consider the many useful comments made in the House today. They will feed into and inform our future thinking. Contributions such as we have heard this afternoon are essential to supplement the feedback we already receive through the city and county child care committees which enables us to get a clear picture of the concerns on the ground. I appreciate the contributions. The debate has been totally uncontentious on both sides of the House. Even in gender terms, the ladies dominated at the outset but the gentlemen who contributed later showed a clear understanding and, like myself, an admittance that our own involvement in child care was less than ideal. There are new men out there now with a different perspective. I thank all for their contributions to a most interesting debate.