Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I wish to address with the Minister of State a specific aspect of the legislation relating to small businesses that often gets overlooked - that is, the area of child care. Currently, there are 4,700 notified early childhood care and education services in Ireland, which employ 22,000 staff and provide sessional full-day and after-school care for 67,000 children and their families every day. In 2012 it is estimated that they will inject ¤425 million into the economy. The services cover every corner of Ireland and range from small outfits catering for ten children to large day care centres that cater for 300 children. I should declare I am speaking from the perspective of being the chair of Early Childhood Ireland, which covers 68% of these organisations.

We are all convinced about the value of high-quality early childhood education and we have seen the studies that show us the cost-benefit analysis of children participating in early education. They show that by the age of three, 80% of a child's brain is developed and at just 22 months a child's development can accurately predict educational outcomes at 26 years of age. Therefore, education and learning happens in preschool. I can provide the Minister of State with much evidence on that, but today we are considering the valuation legislation. However, I want to put on record that I am convinced about this.

In 2010 the State introduced the early childhood care and education scheme, a universal scheme that effectively provides each child with one year free of preschool in the year before entering primary education. It currently has a 96% take-up rate. To participate in this scheme, services must be legislatively compliant, have Garda vetting for staff, implement a curriculum and adhere to the principles of Síolta, the national quality framework. Unlike other businesses, the services under the early childhood care and education scheme are limited in the number of children they can register. The number of children dictates the adult-child ratio - in short, the number of staff such a centre needs to meet legislative requirements. Under the scheme additional charges cannot be made to parents. This sector is labour-intensive, with salaries accounting for 75% of costs; the remaining 25% is running costs, the largest expenses of which are rent, mortgage and rates.

I welcome the change to align the definition with that set out in the Charities Act 2009, but I believe the Bill should also align with the Child Care (Pre-school Services) (No. 2) Regulations 2006, which specify the required spaces per child that a service must have across the varying age ranges and provides for inspection for compliance under the HSE. These are State regulations on the space and type of infrastructure child care services must have in place. They are not allowed under the scheme to charge additional fees to parents.

There are 88 rating authorities and each one differs in the criteria it uses for the services that come under this scheme. The Government indicates what these services must charge and provides the same capitation per scheme, yet there are 88 different rating authorities. In 2010 the services engaging with the scheme were led to understand that in order to qualify for rates exemptions at least 51% of the service had to be provided in the form of preschool places under the State scheme and that the use of the term "education" applied to all services participating in the scheme, as they must have a curriculum. This was fine.

In 2011, there was a change in the application of rates across the country which stated that the exemption only applied to those child care services that are exclusively, that is 100%, funded by the scheme, and did not offer any other service, as additional services were not considered to be educational.

This places an enormous pressure on services and has a detrimental impact on some children, especially children with special needs who may need a second year in preschool to prepare for primary school. In the past, a second year could be accommodated. Under the current guidelines, however, if a service allows a parent to pay for a child with special needs for a second year, the rates exemption is invalidated.

I am asking the Minister to take another look at this. Obviously, the schemes would like to be fully exempted, but we realise the difficulties that exist in the economy and that we are in a challenging position. Could be look at an equitable and standardised rate of valuation scale for all early child and education services, irrespective of their location? I propose that the rateable square footage in each service would be aligned with the space requirement outlined and inspected through the Child Care (Pre-School Services)(No. 2) Regulations 2006. A stepped approach, as proposed by Early Childhood Ireland, would yield income to local authorities. Rates vary at present. I have heard reports of a demand of ¤10,000 for one setting and ¤20,000 for another similar setting, yet everything in this sector is defined by the State. The State regulates the size of a facility, the number of children, the capitation grant and how much it is allowed to charge parents. There is no room to move.

Is there a way to bring this sector into this valuation Bill to deal with the challenges it has?

I will raise more specific points on Committee Stage. I raise this issue today to give the Minister of State a chance to consider introducing Government amendments on Committee Stage.