Kathleen O'Meara (Labour)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute on this important matter. We have a proud record of keeping this issue high on the political agenda and, with the exception of this debate, of generally reaching a consensus on what needs to happen regarding child care. I very much regret the tone of the debate in the past few days during which one element of the issue has been politicised unnecessarily. That has not contributed to the debate but, hopefully, we have moved past that and we can focus on the core issues in the debate.

With regard to the Government's package, I welcome the early child care supplement, as it goes some way towards meeting the proposal in our policy document, which was published last October. However, we proposed a payment of €50 a week whereas the Government proposes a payment of less than €20 a week. While this represents a significant divergence, the principle is agreed. Having examined the issue, the Labour Party considered that a universal payment was the best way forward, similar to the Government proposal. When one is committed to the care of children, one does not want to create an unnatural divide between parents who work outside the home and those who work within it.

The Government missed an opportunity in the budget. While, as the Minister of State pointed out, the budget delivered on a number of child care issues, the Government could have gone much further and I regret it did not do so. The Government's response was limited but the Minister of State made a virtue out of his interest in child care while in office. He has attended the House on a number of occasions to debate the issue and he has been erudite and articulate but a number of his colleagues in the Cabinet only woke up to the urgency and importance of this issue when they arrived on the doorsteps in counties Kildare and Meath. That was unfortunate because, clearly, they were not listening to him. Perhaps, if they had, we might have moved further down the road.

The Government parties have been in office since 1997 but the equal opportunities child care programme only came into operation in 2000. It has been a great programme and I acknowledge the contribution of Sylda Langford in developing and administering the programme as well as she has. The programme has made a difference in many communities, including my own in Nenagh, where a state-of-the-art community child care facility was built with the aid of considerable funding under the programme. However, like many others, this facility is struggling because of the cost of staffing. Despite using 17 community employment scheme workers, all but one of whom are women and all of whom are benefiting greatly as a result of their involvement, the crèche continues to struggle. I have visited crèches in disadvantaged areas, which need more public support. This is where our approaches diverge.

Investment in early childhood care and education, particularly in disadvantaged areas, is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty and disadvantage. If good quality pre-school education is provided, it will make a difference to the children and families involved. The Competitiveness Council published a report two years ago, in which it pointed out that, despite our economic success, the rate of early school leaving among teenagers was as high as ever. While in the 1980s the drop-out rate might have been put down to bad economic circumstances and so on, that is no longer the case. The council pleaded for the provision of a pre-school education infrastructure and I was disappointed the budget made no provision in this regard.

The Minister of State referred to the provision of 10,000 pre-school places. How are they supposed to be delivered? Who will deliver them? Will existing private sector facilities provide the places or will community pre-school facilities be involved? Unless pre-school education is available to all children, not only to the 10,000 referred to by the Minister of State or those whose parents can afford it or live near a Montessori school, a significant opportunity will be missed. We will fail in our duty to all the children of the nation.

I very much welcome the proposed establishment of an office of the Minister for children. Child care provision badly needs to be co-ordinated but we have known that for years. It will finally happen and that is great but it is less than 18 months to the election and, therefore, we will believe the Taoiseach for the moment. I hope the office will be well established by the time the election is called. It will take time to co-ordinate everything and to roll out the office but children cannot wait.

I was disappointed that nothing was done about flexible working or paid parental leave. The take-up of parental leave is low because people cannot afford to take unpaid leave. As Senator Terry pointed out, the Parental Leave (Amendment) Bill was dealt with in this House a year ago. I had a conversation at that time with a woman in Nenagh who read in the newspaper that the new parental leave provisions would be in place by the following summer. I said I was sure it would be the case because the Bill was in the Seanad. The Bill was debated in the usual efficient manner in this House this time last year, but it is now in the Dáil. I hoped it was in the Dáil because the Government had plans to introduce some element of paid leave. However, this is not the case, which is a pity.

I am pleased that the Minister referred to planning guidelines. I am considering this aspect because I am trying to get my head around what is going on. Even though all these planning applications include crèches, when the development is built there is no crèche. I agree with the Minister of State that one does not need a crèche in every corner in a town the size of Nenagh or Thurles. However, the Government put the regulations in place for a reason and something is not working. The Minister of State is using language around linkages, co-ordination and so on but I would like to see what this will mean in practice. A conference will be taking place in the near future to which I look forward, because much needs to be done in this regard. I spoke to a woman recently who is operating a crèche out of her private house, which is not satisfactory, and who would like to have a purpose-built crèche. While this woman wants a purpose-built crèche, developers are just not building crèches. There is something wrong somewhere. It is correct that the role of the county child care committees is significant.

The phrase has been used "A lot done, more to do". I would say "A limited amount done, a huge amount left to do". We do not have in place the proper infrastructure. It is a case of putting a bit in here and there and hoping it will look like an overall co-ordinated plan. I have my doubts as to whether this will happen. The proposal is still lacking. What has been done is welcome but it is very limited.