Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

I join Members on all sides of the House who have welcomed in broad terms the Government's child care initiative that was announced in the budget. I am sure the House will endorse the comments which have been made about the new office of the Minister for children. The Minister of State with responsibility for children, Deputy Brian Lenihan, has brought the various disparate elements of child care provision, as we have known it over the last seven or eight years, together under the aegis of a single office. Those of us who are involved in the child care sector recognise not only that the Minister of State is now at the top of the pyramid but also that the expertise which has been available within the equal opportunities child care programme since the mid-1990s has been transferred to the new office. I wish to express my personal appreciation and continuing support for Ms SyldaLangford, an outstanding public servant who has been driving child care policy at national and regional level and will continue to do so in her new role. My comments in that regard should not be seen as casting a reflection on any of the other fine people who are operating within the Department.

As someone who made the case for a child care facility in my home county at a time when such a proposal was not popular in County Leitrim, I have a particular reason to thank Ms Langford. I advocated the development of a facility to cater for between 60 and 100 children, in a town of 800 people that is in a catchment area of 2,000 people, in the context of the imminent arrival in Carrick-on-Shannon of MBNA, which is now the largest employer in County Leitrim. Many people at national level thought the proposal was pie in the sky and many people at local level thought it was overly ambitious. I am pleased to say that Ms Langford and her officials supported from the outset the development of the community-based facility which is now up and running. The facility, which missed out on previous allocations of money, will receive €400,000 for a further extension under the most recent allocation that was announced just before Christmas. Some 105 children are catered for in the facility during the day and between 20 and 30 children are on the waiting list. It emerged at a board meeting earlier this week that there is growing demand for an after-school service, like similar services being provided across the country. That is an indication of the level of demand in what is perceived to be a rural area.

I endorse much of what was said about the need for flexibility to be built into the working day. As someone who is involved in the management committee of the National Economic and Social Forum, I am aware that the Irish Business and Employers Confederation has been making negative noises in that regard. The confederation does not seem to be fully on board. Now that the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Lenihan, is driving this policy, I expect that the industrial and commercial sectors will issue a positive response. Greater flexibility would benefit those sectors as much as it would benefit the economy as a whole.

I agree with Senator Cox that mothers want to work, but I also believe that mothers want to be mothers. Some mothers who have to cope with the competing elements of their lives — their costs are increasing, for example, because they have to travel greater distances to work — would like to be at home for part of the day. I ask the Minister of State to address this key area by trying to change the industrial law in this regard. Many women in the new Irish society in which we live are beginning to find that the Celtic tiger has drawbacks as well as benefits. I referred earlier to the proposed extension of after-school care services in Drumshanbo, which was supported by many parents who wanted their children to be looked after from the moment they were dropped at the child care centre at 8 a.m. until they were collected at 6 p.m. In other words, the children did not see their parents between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. It was time for them to go to bed by the time they got home. While I accept there are some harsh economic realities to be borne in mind, I do not believe that is what this country should be about. I do not wish to detract in any way from the genuine efforts of parents who are trying to make ends meet. I understand they have to travel long distances in gridlocked traffic and pay high house prices. Something is going to give in our society if this continues. We will not leave a positive legacy if we do not address the matters which have been highlighted by Senator Cox and others.

I am pleased about the rapid expansion in the number of child care places. There are 50,000 such places at present, including 5,000 after-school places and 10,000 pre-school places. The upskilling of child care workers is also a positive development. Some 17,000 additional child care personnel have been recruited. I was also pleased by the Minister of State's reference to what I understand to be the maintenance of the social economy. I welcome the flexibility that has been built into that over the last few weeks. I know from my experience with the child care facility in Drumshanbo that the social economy is vital for its continued success. The Minister of State has said the status quo will be maintained until 2007. The social economy is vital if we are to continue to provide a high quality of child care services in rural areas.

As chairman of the County Leitrim child care committee, I would like to outline what the committee is doing. In 2005, it assisted 32 child care facilities by providing information, training, network and developmental support. The facilities in question provided 97 services to parents, including nine full day care services, 29 play group services, 22 after-school services, one sessional montessori service, one drop-in crèche, 24 summer programmes and 11 parent and toddler groups. The committee also provided supports to home-based childminders and potential childminders. The committee operates under the equal opportunities child care programme, which has provided €6.7 million to County Leitrim to date. Some €5.8 million of that funding has been allocated to a mixture of community groups and private provider child care facilities. Almost 70 headline projects are under way in the county, in areas like transport, childminding development grants, summer scheme grants, pre-school capital grants and after-school grants. The statistics I have outlined constitute the best answer I can give anyone on the other side of the House who wishes to criticise the Government's child care policy.