Cecilia Keaveney (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 162: To ask the Minister for Finance if there are tax incentives for persons towards paying crèche fees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5825/05]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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There are no tax incentives available for persons towards paying crèche fees. Over recent years, the Government has considered carefully the area of child care. It has been decided as a matter of policy that child benefit will be the main instrument through which support will be provided to parents. One of the main benefits from this approach is that, whereas tax relief would be of little or no benefit to those with low incomes, the provision of support for parents through the child benefit route means equality of treatment for all recipients.

In line with this policy approach, the Government has substantially increased child benefit since coming into office in 1997. Overall expenditure on child benefit has increased by 279% from €506 million in 1997 to an estimated €1,916 million in 2005.

To address the availability of services, the supply of formal child care places is being stimulated through a programme of investment under the national development plan equal opportunities child care programme, EOCP. The EOCP funds capital development to increase places, support staffing costs for facilities targeting disadvantage, and improve child care quality. Over the next five years, 2005-2009, the capital envelope for the planned programme of continued investment in child care facilities will be €313 million, which is expected to create about 17,000 places, 3,400 per annum for each of the next five years. The 2005 allocation for the EOCP provides €83.4 million of which €43.8 million is current and €39.6 million is capital funding.

The Government has also undertaken measures to favour the supply of child care by tax incentives to set up facilities and relief from benefit-in-kind taxation for free or subsidised child care where this is provided by employers. Taken together, these represent substantial measures to assist with the cost of child care and I have no plans to introduce additional measures at this time.