Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 654: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will publish the number of persons working in pre-schools and crèches in the State; the percentage of those who are in receipt of payment from the State; and if he will further publish the amount of money spent by his Department and others towards salaries of those involved in preschool and crèches. [28981/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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As the Deputy will be aware the term "pre-school" or "crèche" describes a wide range of services, only some of which would be in receipt of funding under the equal opportunities child care programme, EOCP, 2000-2006, for which my Department has responsibility. It is not possible, therefore, for me to give a comprehensive response to this question.

Both the Department of Health and Children and the Department of Education and Science have interaction with crèche and pre-school services. The Department of Health and Children has responsibility for the Child Care (Pre-School Services) Regulations 1996, under which a notification requirement is placed on certain child care services for children aged under six years. I understand that at the end of 2004, more than 3,000 such services had been notified to the Health Service Executive under the provisions of the regulations. A number of other such services would come within the scope of the Early Start, Rutland Street and Travellers' pre-schools projects, administered and directly funded by the Department of Education and Science. These services are provided to assist the care and development of children from disadvantaged communities. In the Department's recently published action plan for educational inclusion, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin, indicated that the focus of early education under her remit will be on children between three years and schoolgoing age and who are subsequently to be enrolled in schools serving the most disadvantaged communities.

With regard to my Department's role in this area, the EOCP provides grant aid, both capital and staffing, to child care services which support parents to access employment, education or training. These services would include créche and pre-school services. Under the programme, support for staffing costs is only made available to voluntary and community groups which can demonstrate a strong focus on disadvantage. Approximately 750 such groups receive funding under the programme usually for a period of three years. The period of funding was extended recently to the end of 2007 for a number of qualifying groups which had come to the end of their three-year cycle of funding. I understand that to the end of June 2005 more than €97 million had been expended in staffing grants by beneficiaries under the programme. This funding was responsible for supporting approximately 2,300 child care staff, of which 992 were in full time positions.