Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Question 478: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will consider expanding the role played by local authorities in the provision of child care facilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17954/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Many local authorities provide community facilities, including child care facilities, in association with the construction of new social housing. Such facilities are usually funded by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government as part of the capital cost of the project. The ongoing management and operational costs of such facilities are matters for local authorities.

Local authorities also have a role in ensuring that the planning process supports the provision of adequate child care facilities. Guidelines for planning authorities on child care facilities were issued by the Department in July 2001. The guidelines advise local authorities on including specific child care objectives in local development plans and on assessing development proposals for child care facilities. Local authorities were advised that it is appropriate to provide for one child care facility, with a minimum of 20 child care places, for every 75 dwellings in new housing areas. This helps to promote a consistency of approach throughout the country to the treatment of planning applications for child care facilities. The question of what further role local authorities can play in this area will be kept under review in the context of the Government's overall child care policies.