Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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609. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs when arrangements will be made for equal provision for all forms of child care, with particular reference to stay-at-home parents. [31596/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I am committed to the provision of childcare options for families that respect parental choice and reflect international evidence on how to attain the best outcomes for children. While operational responsibility for these do not fall within my policy remit as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, I support the extension of parental leave for parents; particularly in the crucial first year. The Government has provided additional support for stay-at-home parents through the home carer tax credit, which has been increased to €1,100 per year. I support an increase in the earnings threshold for this, and have raised this with the Minister for Finance. 

My Department provides a number of childcare schemes available to all families, including the ECCE free pre-school year, which has been extended into a second year from this September - children's eligibility for ECCE has increased from 38 weeks for all children, to an average of 61 weeks (ranging from 51 to 88 weeks depending on date of birth and age starting school). The Department projects that the expanded ECCE scheme will have a peak enrolment of 127,000 children in the April-June session in 2017. This is an increase of 60,000 children from the pre-expansion volume. Registrations for the September intake are on-going. Presently, the Department expects up to 89,000 children to take part in ECCE from September 2016. Over the last number of years, up to 96% of pre-school children have accessed the ECCE Programme, demonstrating both good supply and good take-up across the country. All children can benefit from the learning and socialisation provided through this scheme.