Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister, Deputy Zappone, for her statement to the Seanad and I thank her for taking the time to speak to us in the House. I would like to broadly welcome the child care subsidy package that was announced as part of the budget last week, and I welcome the Minister's work on making this change a reality.As a first step, it represents a significant shift in policy making, particularly in how it relates to children and child care. It represents the first major admission by a Government that the cost of child care is extortionate and that widespread subsidies from the State are needed to support parents, particularly in low-income families. It is the first major move in improving how we provide support for children. I welcome the move to a child care subsidy system similar to that in place in Scandinavian countries which are near universally accepted as being among the best in the world.

As a lone parent, I spent my entire professional career struggling with high child care costs. The subsidies announced last week will have a serious impact in making it easier for lone parents, in particular, to afford quality child care. I broadly welcome the reforms, but I have a number of questions for the Minister about the practicalities of how they will work and wish to flag a number of issues which have been raised with me by various advocacy groups.

It seems the childcare employment and training support scheme and the after-school child care scheme which allow parents to return to education and work will end under the reforms. I am someone who managed to get a degree before becoming a Senator and it was the fact that the after-school child care scheme was subsidised and I never had to pay more than €25 a week that allowed me to get me where I am today. Does this mean that the price cap under the schemes will end, thus allowing crèches to charge any price they see fit? The child care sector has been relatively underfunded for a number of years and I have heard many concerns that the subsidies will be used to raise wages which should be increased for staff and that this could result in higher child care costs. Is the Minister aware of these concerns and are measures in place to prevent it from being realised?

Lone parents in receipt of social welfare payments receive just under €30 a week for their child. It is not reasonable to assume that a lone parent receiving the one-parent family allowance or a jobseeker's transitional payment will be able to pay more than he or she receives in these payments for child care in order that he or she can access training. Is the Minister aware that a potential impact of the reforms is preventing lone parents from returning to training? Is she able to explain how this will be prevented? It is certainly possible the reforms may be of use to lone parents who are working, but many lone parents rely on childminders as they are more affordable and can work more flexible hours. Does the Minister have plans or initiatives to better support these parents?

I repeat my support for the general principles of the reforms. The State needs to provide more financial support for parents who are struggling to meet the cost of child care. I applaud the work of the Minister on the issue, but I would like to hear a response from her to my concerns. I acknowledge that it was her vision and that of Ann Louise Gilligan for education and accessible child care that set the foundations for me to progress through the education system. I ask that this be kept in mind when we look at labour activation measures. Having caps is hugely important for someone who chooses not to go back into the labour market but who would like to use subsidised child care to return to education in order that he or she will not enter the labour market at the very bottom of the pile.