John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to respond. I have taken into account the issues raised by Senators Buttimer and Coffey, and indeed Senator Alex White, and I hope to respond to as many of the issues as I can during the few minutes available to me.

By way of explaining my presence here, the Minister of State, Deputy Andrews, had a previous ministerial appointment and I was asked to step in for him. In reference to the issues raised by Senators Buttimer and Coffey, I pledge to bring them back to the Department and I am sure they will have a response as quickly as possible.

Regarding the budgetary changes that affect Vote 41, I listened to the concerns expressed, and I am aware the Minister of State, Deputy Andrews, has listened to them also. The issues raised by Senators Fitzgerald and McFadden refer to child welfare and protection. Recent years have seen a period of major investment — €240 million since 1997 — in child and family support services to enable an appropriate response to child welfare concerns.

I am aware of the value of community child care. In my own town of Mountmellick I am proud to say we have an excellent child care facility as a result of €1.5 million in capital grants some time ago. I would be the first to acknowledge also that there are certain concerns in that regard that I want to work toward but I see the value of community child care in a rural area.

It is also important to make the point that the focus for development in recent and coming years is on preventative community based services which provide early intervention within the community care context. The Health Service Executive has stated there has been an increase in funding of family support services of 79%, from €45.7 million in 2003 to €81.8 million in 2008.

I wish to refer to future policy issues raised by Senator White. As regards future policy plans in the area, the Agenda for Children's Services is the overarching policy document of the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. The agenda, with its clear renewed emphasis on family support coupled with reflective questions to enable service providers' self-evaluation, represents the fundamental change now under way as to how Government policy in regard to children is formulated and delivered.

In response to the Agenda for Children's Services, the HSE is developing a policy dealing with child welfare and child and family support services. The core principle of the policy is supporting the child within the family and within the community. The office is working closely with the HSE in this regard and it is anticipated it will be published some time early in the new year.

I would also like to make mention of the fact that continued work in areas like the child care information project, the knowledge management strategy and the review of the Children First guidelines is ensuring availability of far better information, improved communications, application of research findings to child welfare in protection provisions and management evaluation and policy analysis.

With regard to the National Childcare Investment Programme, the NCIP, for which the Minister of State, Deputy Andrews, has specific responsibility, I understand that the precise details of the extended timeframe for delivery of the capital programme is not yet available. However, I understand that the Minister's personal view is that the NCIP will benefit from an extension of two or possibly three years beyond 2010. As the Minister of State made clear to the House, this approach will provide additional flexibility to child care projects, in particular those in the community based, not for profit sector which qualify for large-scale grants of up to €1.2 million and which can often take two years to come to contract and draw down of funding. An extended timeframe will, in turn, help to ensure that the amount of grant funding that becomes payable each year under the NCIP is more closely in line with the allocation provided for in Vote 41. This will ensure that the take-up of the appropriate allocation is maximised.

With regard to whether the NCIP's full capital allocation can continue to be available to the programme over the extended timeframe, I take this opportunity to confirm that the Minister's understanding is that subject to the normal rules of accounting, which reaffirms Vote allocation on an annual basis, this continues to be the case. While the capital allocation in 2009 is €60 million, at this point it is not possible to say for certain what will be the position in respect of 2010 in advance of the Estimates process for that year. However, it is the clear understanding of the Minister of State, Deputy Andrews, that the commitment to the provision of the NCIP's full capital allocation remains intact.

The Community Child Care Subvention Scheme, CCSS, was introduced in January of this year to continue to support community based child care services and enable them to provide reduced child care fees to disadvantaged and low income parents. I also understand that the officials in the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs are not aware of any service participating in the CCSS which has closed as a result of its introduction. It is fair to say that some 100 new child care services have either entered the scheme at this point or are due to enter it at the end of the year, bringing the total number of services participating to approximately 900.

The CCSS has provided detailed and useful data to the Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews, and his office regarding the level of service provision in the community sector. This is far more comprehensive than the study to which Senator Fitzgerald referred. The latter considered 12 services, of which five have a reduced funding level of 5% in 2008. I also understand that the data provided in 2007 from applications for 2008 funding will be updated shortly. Processing of funding applications for 2009 has been completed. The updated data will enable also a comprehensive exercise that will be of assistance in supporting the programme to be carried out.

Senator Fitzgerald referred to the cost of child care for parents in general. The CCSS targets funding to disadvantaged and low-income parents. The family income ceiling in this regard is €45,000. Average costs in the private sector are in the region of €200 per week. In the community sector, such costs are €150 per week and this means that parents earning €50,000 who will not obtain a subvented rate will be able to access a more affordable child care place. With a guaranteed minimum level of funding of 95% in 2008 and 85% in 2009, the loss of grant income of €151,000 to which the Senator referred would mean they would have received €3 million in 2007 under the previous scheme. The latter represents 8% of the entire funding for the 780 centres funded.

Under the CCSS, the average price parents pay for full-time day care is €84 per week. Some 80% of parents attending are subsidised and 50% of them are paying less than they did under the previous scheme. The new scheme is far more targeted and effective and will not be reviewed while it remains in place until the end of 2010.

Senators Bacik and McFadden referred to segregation in the support of agencies, especially in the context of a focus on parents receiving social welfare payments. Most social welfare recipients benefit from affordable preschool services of three hours and do not require full day care services. It is often middle to lower income parents who avail of the more affordable full and part-time child care services.

The CCSS is a targeted scheme and is only available in community-based settings. Any move to extend it to the broader child care sector would need to be considered in the wider policy context. In developing Ireland's child care infrastructure, the achievements to date under the NCIP in the context of child care places created will be built on in the future. This will involve considering a range of policy objectives, including more broadly based preschool provision.

Senator Quinn referred to child care costs in other EU states, citing lower costs and higher tax rates and stating that Ireland and the UK are low-tax economies. At present, the NCIP and other initiatives undertaken by the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, together with the universal supports provided for child care in early childhood, are the main provisions in this area. However, the Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews, indicated his intention to ensure more effective use of the framework and resources available to his office, including the co-located early years policy of the Department of Education and Science to provide a clear focus on early years care and development.

Senator White raised a number of points. In response to the first of these, I must state that the allocation of current funding is not automatically increased each year. It can be increased by 0% to 3% or more. While many Votes have seen a reduction in the current funding proposed for 2009, funding for Vote 41 has been sustained at the existing level, despite the need to make administrative savings of 3%. This represents a real increase in the money available to services funded under the CCSS.

Another issue raised relates to the preschool years. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to provide access to preschool years by 2012. The Government is meeting this commitment through the NCIP and the creation of places, many of which are specifically for three to four year olds. The Minister of State with responsibility for children and youth affairs, Deputy Barry Andrews, is also committed to developing care and education as a single and best-practice approach. This will begin to happen over time.

I thank the Cathaoirleach for the opportunity to reply to the debate.