Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 264: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will provide details of funding allocated under the equal opportunities childcare programme 2000 to 2006 to schemes in Cork City and county; the funding allocated to date in the same area under the national childcare investment programme 2006 to 2010; the projected NCIP spend to 2010; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22586/07]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, 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 2006-10 (NCIP), which are being implemented by the Office of the Minister for Children.

The EOCP has both an equal opportunities and a social inclusion focus and aimed to increase the supply of centre based childcare places by 55 per cent (or 31,300 additional places) over the course of the Programme. This target has already been exceeded, with some 35,500 additional places already created under the Programme. The NCIP has a funding allocation of €575 million and aims to create an additional 50,000 new childcare places. It is expected that approximately 22,000 of these places will be in the private sector and 28,000 in the community/not for profit sector. Twenty per cent of the overall places will be for children in the 3 to 4 age group and will provide an early childhood care and education focus. As with the EOCP, the NCIP is a demand led scheme, with groups open to apply for funding from the Department through their local City/County Childcare Committees.

Experience gained under the EOCP has shown that it can be very difficult to accurately project how funding will be disbursed on a geographical basis over the duration of a programme. A number of factors come to bear in this regard, for example, the mix of private/community services in the locality, delays in acquiring planning permission or engaging building contractors, difficulties in securing other strands of funding and the general capacity of voluntary and community groups to deliver on large and often complicated projects.

However, the NCIP has a particular focus on identifying service gaps and matching supply and demand for services at the local level. In this regard, the City/County Childcare Committees have an important emerging role in planning and prioritising services in their locality. This new approach is intended to maximise the impact of funding at a local level delivering valuable services to families and better value for money.

The following tables provide details of funding allocated in Cork City and County under the EOCP and NCIP to date. It also includes funding for a number of regionally focused projects, commitments to National Voluntary Childcare Organisations and City and County Childcare Committees. As will be seen the total value of the funding allocated in Cork City and County amounts to €42.75 million under the EOCP and €13.4 million under the NCIP.