Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I second the Fine Gael amendment. It is about time the Minister of State felt the need to address the child care issue. It is backslapping of the greatest order for Senator Feeney to state what the Government has done. She must remember how long the Government has been in office and wonder why it was not done before. There is no point in all of the time going back over what we did when we were in Government. We stated before that they were different times, as was the case when the Government came into power nine years ago. Time has moved on and I agree that our economy has improved.

There was a time, when Senator Feeney and I were much younger and had young children, that the money was not there to provide the type of child benefit that women get today. Senator Feeney stated she envied women today. I am not sure I share that envy. Their needs are as great now as our needs once were. In fact, the needs of young mothers and fathers today are even greater. Many women of my age stayed at home and in many cases they were forced to stay at home. We did not have the costs or stresses in our lives that young mothers and fathers have today.

I acknowledge we have come a long way and much has been done in the budget, but not before time. If we examine the package in the context of our economy, we are doing little and playing catch-up with the rest of the EU. Accepting that somebody can pay up to €500 per month for one child, the budget gives approximately €20 per week towards helping a parent with the costs of child care.

Child care is not only about paying a child minder. A child care package is and must be much greater than that. I urge the Minister of State to broaden the package. Providing money is not good enough. Many parents will be glad of the money but it may not necessarily be spent on the child. What about the early education of the child? We are examining all aspects of the child and not only child care costs. Much more must be done.

We must recognise and take into account that children have varied and individual needs. An issue of equality is also raised. We recognise that stay-at-home parents have an equal right to this money as mothers who go out to work. The well-off parent receives the same amount as the poorer parent. Many issues must be addressed and improved. The issue of providing quality child care must also be addressed and much more must be done in that regard.

My secretary told me that apart from an increase in child benefit, the child care package has done nothing for her as a working mother. A single working mother with children over the age of six does not benefit from the payment of €1,000 per year. There is nothing for parents of children in school. Parents must pay for after-school care. There is nothing in the budget to help them. Let us recognise that it is not a panacea for every issue. Much more must be done.

With regard to the Parental Leave (Amendment) Bill I do not want the Minister of State to reply by stating that the Government has improved maternity leave. We took Second Stage of the Bill 12 months ago and it now awaits Committee Stage. The delay is unacceptable. Parents of six and seven year old children contact me and are concerned that their children will be too old and they will not be able to avail of it. Some of them will already have missed out on the opportunity to avail of the Bill's provisions. I urge the Minister of State to ensure that Bill is returned to the House as quickly as possible. I contacted the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights and asked it to deal with this issue. No date has been set to do so. I fear it will not deal with it before Easter. I ask the Minister of State to examine the matter.

The National Women's Council of Ireland contacted me regarding the €10,000 tax allowance for child minders. I presume it also contacted the Minister of State. It stated it is a positive initiative to encourage child minders into the formal economy. It is critical that when this measure is introduced child minders will be given the same rights and entitlements as all workers. That is extremely important. A child minder willing to mind three or more children in his or her own home for many years will not receive pension or other benefits on retirement or on falling ill. We must examine this issue and I ask the Minister of State to address the anomaly.

I am concerned that the Minister for Finance took the easy option. It was administratively easy to act as the Government did. I can see how one could go down that line. We must now examine the quality of care given to the child and see the value of early childhood education and the opportunities presented to children. It must be available. The Minister of State is aware that for too long in our area community crèches were in danger of closing down if they did not have the finance or were afraid they would not have the ongoing finance to pay the wages of the staff. We must get away from that and ensure there is an ongoing system that will be available to everybody. We must eliminate fears that sufficient funds will not be available from one year to the next. I ask that, instead of clapping themselves on the back, Members of the Government parties get on with addressing the outstanding child care issues. The child care package is long overdue.