Geraldine Feeney (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Brian Lenihan, to the House and happily second the motion.

It was deplorable and outrageous behaviour by the Opposition, especially the larger party, Fine Gael, to leap up and down and jump around the place for the past number of days, citing figures off the tops of their heads of anything from €50 million to €150 million. It was scaremongering of the worst sort and beneath the dignity of any responsible politician. This sort of behaviour creates racist attitudes. Not for one minute do I believe that Fine Gael or any of its members are racist or have racist tendencies but one should think before one speaks, especially on such matters. There was uproar in the media over Fine Gael throwing out figures it had not substantiated or researched.

Now that I have got that off my chest I will speak to the motion. I congratulate the Government and the Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, on the substantially increased resources allocated to child care in last December's budget. I will quote from his Budget Statement as we have been accused of making an ill-thought out budget, particularly in respect of child care. The Minister stated:

Where are the greatest pressure points for parents? How can I be fair to everyone, to both lower and middle income groups and to working parents, to those who are in the tax net and those who are not, to working parents as well as those who make their contribution to society through their work in the home? What is the administratively simplest and most user-friendly system? What is sustainable for the Exchequer? Having carefully considered all the complex issues involved, the Government has developed a five-year strategy to tackle the problem.

He went on to say one can only do so much in one budget but that this was a major start and he looked forward to continuing.

It was a major increase, far in excess of inflation. In June 1997, as my colleague, Senator Glynn, has already outlined, child benefit for first and second children was €38. Last December, the Minister for Finance announced that monthly rates were to be increased to €150 for the first and second children and €185 for subsequent children. This is a fourfold increase in child benefit. As the Minister stated in December, this was the first budget wherein child care was seriously examined. I do not care on which side of the fence one is. One must say that this has made and will make a substantial difference. This was only last December's budget and there is another budget to go before the Government will see its term of office end. After our re-election, we look forward to delivering another five budgets, which will have even better child care packages. We are building on everything.

I welcome the new five-year child care investment programme to create an extra 50,000 places. My adopted county of Sligo, a small county in the west, has seen major investment. A total of €1 million has been provided for state-of-the-art child care facilities in the town itself, creating child care places and bringing in child care personnel to run them. In Senator Scanlon's home town of Ballymote on the outskirts of Sligo, another €1 million has been used for child care development. In Enniscrone, west Sligo, more than €1 million has been spent, for which the people of Sligo are most grateful.

When I see the figure of €1,000 per year for children under five years of age, I am saddened I did not stop my biological clock. Twenty years ago I had four children under five and I wish that such money had been available. I was a young married mother who gave up work to look after my children. I would have welcomed such income so I envy the young mothers who receive this sum, which will assist in educating and caring for their children.

I am delighted that mothers of newborn children will have six months paid maternity leave from 2007. As a woman and a mother, this is a wonderful initiative. This six-month period can be followed with a further period of unpaid leave. Returning to work and leaving one's child to be looked after by someone else is daunting, particularly with a first child. One wonders if the child will miss the parent. If one can look after the child for nine months, one is leaving a little toddler rather than an infant. This will take the pressure off new mothers who would have had such a draw on their emotions.