Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and congratulate him on recently assuming the leadership of his party. I also acknowledge the work of Senator Currie in framing this motion and the opportunity to present today on this important matter.

It is safe to say, going around even this city ahead of the recent elections, where I canvassed for some local election candidates, particularly in some of the newer estates we would see an area set aside, left aside and perhaps fenced off. We would be told that is where the crèche is proposed to be put and, of course, there is no crèche. There is grass growing and cordoning around it, or perhaps more attractive fencing in some cases. That is the challenge. The planners have put in place a condition that a crèche be provided and these crèches, as Senator Currie highlighted, in certain cases in her constituency are not provided. While the regulations look good on paper, putting them into practice and the follow-through are not always there. It is important to acknowledge that.

In this sector, one comes across both providers and staff who have issues. I have attended briefings with SIPTU about its concerns. I met representatives of SIPTU and staff themselves who have concerns, and of course parents. The main concern that parents had was affordability issues and I acknowledge the work of the Minister and the Government on the reduction of fees. The main problem I come across now is accessibility and crèche places. It has come up on doors over the past number of months in rural areas and in my own area of Rosscahill-Oughterard, where there are providers that are full and there are waiting lists. Parents are running around trying to find places. Obviously, they have to be practical. There is no point in saying that there is place that is an hour's distance across town. Those challenges are difficult. It is somewhat similar to school places, where the Department states there are places but they are on the far side of the city. It is not practical in working parents’ routine to say they have to go an hour out of town and collect later on in the day. Those sort of things are not practicable.

The Minister and Senator Currie have acknowledged the establishment of the new supply management unit in the Department, and that is a welcome initiative. I certainly hope it works better than the forward planning section in the Department of Education, because there have been and continue to be issues there related to forward planning, whatever model it is using. Perhaps it will be easier in this sector but I do not know. It is important that model is correct. I know the forward planning unit uses the PPS, the census and all of that. I presume it is a similar sort of initiative. It is important that model be got right.

The waiting lists, as I said, are worrying. A three-year waiting list puts an undue stress on parents and it can change their lives. I say quite often in relation to many issues that not all families are the same. In some cases, people are lucky enough to have a grandparent close by or some family that might be able to assist. However, that is not always the case. All families are different. When there is a situation where we have waiting lists, that puts, as Senator Currie said, huge stress on and causes distress for parents. This obviously mainly impacts on women and mothers.

The suggestions and recommendations include updating the planning guidelines for the development of childcare facilities, which are due to be published in draft form for public consultation. They also include removing some of the loopholes related to one-bedroom apartments and strengthening the role of planning authorities. This is not just relevant to this area but the enforcement sections of planning authorities, certainly in my area, are not as strong as they should and could be. Whether that be an issue of funding, prioritisation or challenges, they need the personnel to follow up on planning applications to ensure there is delivery of what is conditioned and part of a planning application, that there is follow through and that we do not have vacant sites just left there. We have centres that are constructed but not taken up or utilised. There should be a new system involving a new model for the State to acquire or run those sorts of facilities as well so that they are not just left there. Finally, colocating childcare provision in new school developments makes sense for a whole variety of reasons. I ask that be included as a recommendation as well for the greater development of this important sector.