Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 68: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the amount of child care supplement which will be payable in the case of a child who is six years of age in the middle of May 2006; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9871/06]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The payment to which the Deputy has referred will be made by the office of the Minister of the State responsible for children, and will be administered by the Department of Social and Family Affairs on an agency basis. Discussions between the office of the Minister of the State responsible for children and that Department on the operational details of the payment are in progress.

The payments will be to the value of €1,000 per year and will payable on a quarterly basis to all parents of children aged under six. The payment will be effective from 1 April 2006, payable in arrears at the end of the relevant quarter, and it is hoped that the first payments will be made in August 2006. The payment will generally be made automatically, without the need for application. In the case of an eligible child who reaches the age of six years old in the middle of May 2006, such a child would be eligible for one quarterly payment of €250. Full details regarding the operation of the payment will be announced well in advance of the first payments being made.