Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 218: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if parents who avail of the new ECCE scheme can use the service on a sessional basis reflecting their actual needs, that is, if their allocation has to be spent over five actual days in the week of if it can be used for a lesser number of days with longer hours; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20057/09]

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, I have responsibility for the implementation of the new scheme to provide a free Pre-School year of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) which was announced recently by the Minister for Finance. The scheme, which is being introduced from January 2010, will allow eligible children to avail of a free pre-school place in the year before they commence school. Services can participate in the scheme on the basis of a number of options. A full or part-time service will be required to provide a pre-school service for 2 hours 15 minutes per day, five days a week for 50 weeks per year, in return for a capitation fee of €48.50 per week.

A playschool sessional service will, normally, be required to provide a pre-school service for 3 hours per day, five days a week for 38 weeks per year, in return for a capitation fee of €64.50 per week. However, where for good reason a sessional service is unable to operate over 5 days, consideration will be given to allowing it to participate in the scheme on the basis of providing the pre-school year for 3 hours 30 minutes per day for 4 days per week. In such cases, a service will be required to provide the pre-school year over 41 weeks.

Sessional services are limited under the Child Care (Pre-School Services) (No. 2) Regulations 2006 to 3 hours and 30 minutes. Should a parent wish to avail of the pre-school year in a full or part-time service, the 50 week model should apply. As an early childhood care and education measure, while the ECCE scheme has been designed to be flexible to meet the needs of parents and of childcare services, it is the developmental needs of the child that are the key focus and which have determined the way in which the scheme has been designed.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 219: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number of nursing homes in the city and county of Cork; the number of inspections yearly in each home since 2002; if she is satisfied that there is adequate qualified staff to inspect such homes; if complaints have been received about any such Cork home since 2005; the nature of the complaint, the type of investigation undertaken and the outcome of same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20065/09]

Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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As this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.