Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I am a former Minister of State at the Department of Health. When the health boards were amalgamated under the Health Service Executive no redundancy programme was put in place. Instead of a reduction in the number of managers along the line, there has been an increase in that regard. There is room to consider some of them moving to the child care area if they are qualified in that regard.

Even though it is true that the overall funding for child care will increase by 16%, the new system with its stringent rules will mean that some rural child care centres may face closure as many of their customers, generally low income parents just above the threshold for receipt of social welfare, will be unable to afford these services. The matter is under debate in this House, in the Dáil and in the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party, which is a very important forum for debate regarding these issues. It is not going to happen all of a sudden in January 2008. It is under very careful consideration by the Minister of State and all the members of the parliamentary party.

One typical child care centre in Roscommon has 50 children in attendance. Of these, four children are from families in receipt of social welfare benefits. In effect under the new scheme 92% of the parents with children in these centres will be paying more than they are at present, with the increase being especially hard on families with incomes just above the social welfare threshold. This is the group being hit hardest in this regard. For example, a job sharing, low income family with one child in part-time care could end up paying €160 per week as opposed to €60 to €80 under the existing scheme. With mortgage repayments rising by €120 per month for many families in the current economic climate, this could result in great difficulties for many of them.

An example is the Drumshanbo community child care centre in County Leitrim. A representative of the centre brought this case to my attention at a very early stage when the dangers of the proposals became clear. The centre with 125 children availing of its services expects to lose eight of its 22 staff if the new scheme is introduced, which would lead to the loss of either a number of child care spaces or the level of care provided. Ultimately the children would lose out on the crucial early stages of their development.

The Minister of State, Deputy Brendan Smith, met the Fianna Fáil group of councillors in County Roscommon on 15 October. I received a copy of a submission made by Councillor Orla Leyden. I declare that she is my daughter. However, she made this submission in her own right as a councillor, young mother and someone in regular contact with young parents. She made a very detailed submission to the Minister of State outlining her views, which I will put on the record of the House because she has considerable experience in child care and is in touch with other parents with children in child care. Her submission stated:

The new scheme only provides a subvention to the parents of children that are in receipt of social welfare ... it is equally important that children with parents on low to middle incomes have access to affordable childcare. Many parents are struggling as it is to provide for their families, their pay package is gone very quickly between the rising cost of mortgages, utility costs and the general high cost of living.

This new scheme will force many parents and women in particular out of the work place due to the higher cost of childcare ... This scheme will mean that it will no longer be worthwhile financially for a woman with for example two young children to work part-time, as the cost of childcare will be too great ... Parents should have the choice to care full time for their children, to work full time and employ childcare or work part time and also care for children.

The availability of high quality, low-cost childcare facilities is key to enabling the participation of parents in the workforce.

In the case of many childcare facilities in rural areas only a small number of parents meet the criteria under the new subvention scheme.

Although this refers to the scheme as proposed now, that will not reflect the final shape of the scheme when completed.