Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she supports subsidised childcare over benefit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7348/13]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The balance between providing support to parents through child benefit and other income supports, or through subsidised childcare services, is a matter for the Government to decide in the context of budgetary discussions.

My Department currently provides support to low-income parents to assist them with the cost of childcare through the Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) and Childcare Education and Training Support (CETS) programmes. The CCS programme is available to qualifying parents in some 950 community childcare services and costs in the region of €40 million per annum. The CETS programme is available to qualifying FAS trainees and VEC students in some 1,600 community and commercial services across the country. In addition, my Department implements the universal free Pre-School Year in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, at a cost of €175 million per annum.

A new School Age Childcare initiative was announced in Budget 2013 as part of a packet of measures to support children and families. It will be implemented as a joint venture by my Department and the Department of Social Protection. Under the initiative, over 6,000 after school childcare places will be made available for children of parents availing of employment opportunities. My Department has been given a full year allocation of €14 million to provide for the scheme which is expected to be piloted in the coming months and fully rolled out in September 2013.

I believe there is significant international evidence of the benefits for children's outcomes of the provision of quality education and childcare in the earliest years. Childcare services also make an important economic contribution through direct employment of staff in service delivery and through support for labour participation on the part of working parents.