Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I welcome also the opportunity to debate this issue. The Minister of State has been positive in coming to the House on a number of occasions as he has today for this resumed debate.

The issue of pre-school care to which Senator O'Meara referred is important. I am very interested in some of the developments in that area. I have long advocated the use of our schools as centres for pre-school and after school care. That is beginning to happen in many small and large towns throughout the country. The good news is that there now appears to be space in our primary schools that was not always available. Once the space is available, it does not take too much money to provide staffing compared with the very large grants the Minister is providing for new child care centres.

I could give the Minister examples of devolved grants being used very effectively to provide rooms to be used for child care. The Minister recently announced funding of €1.4 million for a major child centre project in Kinvara. That is the largest investment the town will ever see, but an additional €40,000 was provided for staffing in the local primary school, which is welcome because it can be used immediately and we do not have to wait for those buildings to be erected.

There is a major cost involved in this area and I could name many towns that have benefited from this investment. The standard figure appears to be between €1 million and €1.4 million. I refer to towns like Mountbellew, Tuam and others towns in Galway that have benefited greatly from that funding. In addition to the fact that child care is costly, the sad reality is that parents must sometimes travel long distances to work because of the housing difficulty. The first priority for them, therefore, is child care because of that need to travel.

Another welcome development is the number of child care committees now established. I understand there are 33 local city and county child care committees, which have done very good work. They have also recommended many of the projects the Minister of State is promoting and will support.

Issues the Government has tackled in recent years have been important. Maternity leave, for example, is important. I understand an additional four weeks was provided last March and that an additional four weeks will be provided from next March. Child benefit has been increased. The early child care supplement of €1,000 for children less than six years is also welcome.

Another welcome measure was the tax relief for child minders who could care for up to three children in their home, but I understand no tax is paid if the amount earned is less than €10,000 per annum. I hope that will be examined in next month's budget because I made inquiries about cost in a number of child care centres in County Galway and the standard figure is approximately €160 per week for full child care. That could amount of €24,000 per year for three children and therefore an increase in the threshold would be welcome.

The question Senator O'Meara raised about schools being closed for Hallowe'en is important. There is always a danger that accidents will occur involving young people or those living in fear of the damage fireworks can do. It is important to have fireworks for community celebrations but it amazes me the way people can gather all those materials months before Hallowe'en. I do not know where they get them but they must do a great deal of research and put a great deal of time into it.

That brings me to the question of playground facilities, in which I hope we will see an improvement throughout the country. There has been talk for years about insurance not being available for playgrounds. Galway County Council came up with its own scheme which meant it could get an insurance policy. The five electoral areas will have three new playgrounds this year, which is 15 in total for the county. That is a very good start.

When we consider the development of towns, new roads and where land becomes available, everybody says we must have housing in a certain location and land for industry, but the last consideration is a playground, recreation area or a park where young and old can play. It is important for young people in particular that they would be able to avail of those facilities.

An area I want to stress in particular is the question of services for children with disabilities. I met the service providers, such as the Brothers of Charity, and the Galway County Association, who are happy that they are making good progress on their services, but they make the point, and the Minister might agree with it, that despite all the resources available for even one child, from where will the funding come for other children? At this stage we should engage in forward planning and have definite budgets, whether for a three or five-year period. When Senator Leyden and I were members of the health board, one of the issues we continually advocated was to have these schemes continued.

On the question of residential places, I understood we had a sufficient number but from talking to the people in the Brothers of Charity and the Galway Association, that appears not to be the case. That is an important area.

I very much welcome the Taoiseach's statement about a referendum on children's rights. That is important and the Minister of State has been very supportive of it. The issues he raised are difficult ones. People have told me that the bond between parents and children is important, whether it is a prospective adoptive family or whatever. I agree it is important but one sometimes wonders why decisions are not taken more quickly.

Senator O'Meara referred to the balance of rights and asked whether we would ever achieve it. Difficulties arise between the birth mother and the prospective adoptive mother, or adoptive parents, and it is therefore very important that a balance be struck.

In my travels I have spoken to elderly people. Grandparents must be very careful and should never tell their sons and daughters how to rear their children, bearing in mind that they might have a different view on child rearing. Children were reared differently in the grandparents' time. Some of their practices may have been good and others may not. This is a very difficult issue and I hope there will be a good outcome. However, it means we will need to have much discussion on the rights of children, who are the most important people. The rights of children comprise an important consideration in striking the right balance.