Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

Senators may be interested to hear that there is a motion on the Adjournment of the other House on the exact same subject later today. Deputy Cregan has asked me to do an examination of this matter as well.

I am very pleased, as this is the first time I have had to answer for my new responsibilities in Seanad Éireann. I hope to put what has been undertaken in this area on the record of the House. Senator Brennan referred to particular groups in County Limerick for which capital grant assistance was approved under the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme, EOCP, 2000-06. To respond to the Senator, it is necessary first to give a brief explanation of the programme, for which my colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, previously had responsibility.

An Agreed Programme for Government and the EOCP show the commitment of the Government to developing child care services. The EOCP has both an equal opportunities and a social inclusion perspective and aims to increase the supply of centre-based child care places by 55%, or 31,300 additional places, by programme end. Current forecasts of impact suggest that it will ultimately create at least 40,000 new child care places, of which over 26,000 are already in place. The first meeting of the expert working group on child care established under Partnership 2000 was held within a month of the Government changeover in 1997. The Government has consistently moved promptly, purposefully and proactively to facilitate the development of a top quality child care service across the length and breadth of the country to support parents, the economy and social inclusion through labour market participation. Since this Government came into office for the second time, it has increased the funding provision for the development of child care a number of times and the allocation for the present programme is now almost €500 million.

I want to turn now to the child care projects in question. As the Senators are aware, the four child care projects have been approved a total of €4.5 million in capital grant assistance. Many child care services throughout Limerick city and county have benefited from grant assistance under the EOCP. To end of December 2005, funding of over €28 million has been allocated for child care in Limerick city and county. This funding is leading to the creation of over 1,700 new child care places and supports almost 1,500 existing places throughout the city and county.

In the case of community based not-for-profit capital projects approved under the EOCP, the value for money criterion which is being applied is that the maximum cost per place created should not normally exceed €20,000. This in fact was referred to by Senator Finucane in his contribution this afternoon. Given the enormous sums being invested in child care facilities and the ongoing and welcome development of new projects across the country, I am sure the Senator will understand that there is an onus on us to ensure that value for money remains a key criterion to be used when assessing project proposals.

The four projects in question have been approved indicative amounts of funding, subject to further development of the proposals and external appraisal by a building specialist. All four groups have been in contact with and are receiving support from Limerick County Childcare Committee and have met with other groups in the area that have been approved indicative funding. I understand they are working together to reduce the costs of their projects. I further understand that Limerick County Childcare Committee has been supplied with a list of large-scale capital projects that have progressed within the €20,000 per child care place limit. In excess of 200 large-scale capital grants have been approved under the programme to date, all of which were subject to the value for money criteria, and applicants were able to provide child care places within the criteria and, in some cases, for significantly less than the maximum amount of €20,000.

I also note that the amounts approved to the four projects in question are at the higher end of the scale in terms of large-scale capital grants approved, varying from €1 million to €1.4 million. Only 24 groups nationally have been approved a capital grant in the region of €1.4 million or more. Senators will understand that if the benefits of the programme are to be felt across the country, it is important that funding is not concentrated on a small number of projects and that a national and regional spread of approvals is achieved in order to meet local needs.

I understand that some of the groups in question are in a position to proceed soon and I am hopeful that the current contacts with Pobal will allow the groups to agree revised plans in the not too distant future. It is open for any group to formally appeal the level of funding approved, but I am not aware that any of the groups in question have done so to date. The best way forward would be to liaise with Pobal.

It is only fair to emphasise that the programme has been central to the recent development of child care in Ireland, which will continue to flourish under the stewardship of the Government. Following on from the success of the programme, in October 2005, the Cabinet committee on children received an options paper which contributed significantly to the Government's recent decisions relating to child care. Essentially, all the key players in the child care sector and, in particular, parents, were calling on the Government to make greater funding available for child care and to adopt a more cohesive approach to the delivery of child care services.

The Government considered these matters and on 7 December last, in the budget, a national child care strategy for the period 2006-10 was announced by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen.