Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 495: To ask the Minister for Health and Children, further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 107, 121, 122 and 123 of 11 December 2008, the amount of the €58,650 awarded to a crèche (details supplied) in County Meath on 6 June 2006 that has been recouped in view of the fact that the crèche concerned closed down in October 2008; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1928/09]

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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All applicants for funding under the National Childcare Investment Programme are obliged to enter into a contract with Pobal in relation to the provision of the childcare service. The contracts provide that facilities must remain in operation for a certain number of years (depending on the amount of the grant) following receipt of the final instalment of the grant.

If a grant beneficiary is in breach of contract by closing the service before the date stated in the contract, then decommittal and recovery proceedings will commence. These procedures take into account the length of time that the service has operated, and the calculations are made on a pro-rata basis. Each decommittal is considered on a case-by-case basis so that any particular individual circumstances may be taken into account. The procedures cannot commence until Pobal receives confirmation (from the beneficiary or from a third party) of the closure of the facility.

Until the final instalment of the grant is received, the service provider is obliged to regularly report and account for all expenditure incurred. Once this process has been concluded, the provider is required to complete an annual Confirmation of Continued Service document until his or her contractual obligations are fulfilled, i.e. for the requisite number of years as laid down in the contract. The facility in question received the final instalment of its grant in August 2008, and had been reporting and accounting for its expenditure appropriately throughout until this time. While the facility in question did not notify Pobal of its closure, the non-return of a Confirmation of Continued Service document at the end of 2008 would have brought the position to light. Pobal has since written to the service provider requesting confirmation of the position and, when this is confirmed, any appropriate decommittal and recovery proceedings will be commenced.