Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 352: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the position in relation to a playgroup (details supplied) in County Wicklow; if they will be informed that funding will be provided; if she will look at having each funding period run until the end of the academic year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14352/07]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, I have responsibility for the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-2006 (EOCP) and the National Childcare Investment Programme 2006-2010 (NCIP), which are being implemented by the Office of the Minister for Children.

In June 2005 the Group in question was approved €108,800 in staffing grant assistance under the EOCP for the period to 31 December 2007, which is the date that the current scheme of staffing funding under the EOCP runs to. A new scheme of staffing grants under the NCIP is due to be announced later this year and funding under this scheme will be effective from 1 January 2008. The procedures and criteria governing the new grant scheme, including the reporting, approval and payment cycles, are currently under consideration, and will be made available both generally and to existing staffing grant recipients in the coming months, and the Group in question is among those who will be contacted directly in this regard.