John Minihan (Progressive Democrats)

I welcome the Minister of State and his officials to the House. The importance of education in early childhood is recognised by all. By means of my party's manifesto and An Agreed Programme for Government, the Government has sought to bring together the complex areas of childhood education, child poverty and child care, to ensure that all that can be done is being done.

Our objectives are clear, including valuing children to the utmost, providing holistic support, reducing poverty and increasing access. We will ensure the policy and resources are in place to provide the necessary infrastructure for developing and creating services.

I commend the work of the National Economic and Social Forum, particularly its recent report on early childhood care and education which sets out clearly the challenges facing our changing society in respect of such education. Recognising the consequences of our rapidly changing society as the context for our endeavours is the first step.

The NESF paints a clear picture. The population is at its highest level since 1871 and our birth rate has been increasing since 1994. Children under six years comprise some 10% of the population. Our population is becoming increasingly urbanised with 60% of the population living in urban centres in 2002. Our changing society and rapidly developing economy has changed the environment for early childhood learning. The number of women working outside the home rose from 483,000 in 1995 to 771,000 in 2004, an increase of 60%.

I commend the Government and the Minister for Education and Science on asking the Dublin Institute of Technology and St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra, to jointly establish the Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education in 2001. The Minister of State, Deputy Brian Lenihan, has referred to the great achievements in this regard. This body works as centre of excellence to develop a quality framework for early childhood education; to develop targeted interventions for children who are educationally disadvantaged and for children with special needs. The publication by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment of the Framework for Early Learning is to be welcomed. This sets out the basis for the first national framework for learning from birth to six years. Groups such as the NESF, the National Children's Office, the Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education and many other excellent groups can point out to legislators the challenges to be faced. Parents, families and teachers inform us as legislators of the immediate concerns for children and their education. I recognise that at less than 0.2% of GDP, our investment in early childhood education needs to be reconsidered. I realise that the wider setting of the child must be considered. As the NESF report suggests, if we are to do all we can for early childhood learning, we need to further examine the factors that contribute to, or undermine, the well-being of children in contemporary Irish families. Irish society has changed quite dramatically in the past 20 years. We must devise and implement effective and responsive policies relating to children and to the design of services for children and their families.

I am particularly delighted that, through the National Children's Office, the Government is funding a national longitudinal study on children. This will be the most significant of its kind to be undertaken, particularly in terms of the cost, scope and the extent of the period to be studied. In the words of the NESF report, we need to look at, "the care and education needs of young children in an enlightened way, identifying and removing the inadequacies and rigidities". As policymakers we must commend the work of the national longitudinal study, ensure we have an enlightened attitude and also be brave and forthright in identifying and removing the inadequacies and rigidities.

I am conscious of the general link between early learning and child care. The Government has made a greater commitment to the child care sector through the equal opportunities childcare programme, than any other in the history of the State. In line with promises made during the general election, the Government has kept State funding on child care under continual review and has recently committed to increased spending. At least €500 million will have been spent on the EOCP by the end of 2006. Even then the Government's investment in child care will not stop. In the last budget the Government, through the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, secured a commitment to further increase capital funding under the next phase of the equal opportunities child care programme, which will start officially in 2007. The funding allocated under the 2000-06 programme will result in the creation of some 36,500 new child care places, many of which are already in situ.

The NESF's call for enlightenment and courage puts the onus on us all to work to address the problems in the system. My party, the Progressive Democrats, has outlined a five-point approach to do this in regard to child care. In the coming days we will develop further our ideas on increasing supply to reduce costs and burden on families to improve the context within which all our policy endeavours must sit. We will examine reforms to address distinctiveness to supply and reforms to incentivise the provision of nurturing environments for childhood learning within the home.

I welcome these statements. This is a complex area. There are statutory and voluntary groups who do great work and provide excellent information for legislators. We have a duty to act on that information. I am certain that further progress will be made in early childhood learning.