Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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771. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the measures her Department is taking to broaden parental choice for child care; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3760/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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My Department is 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 parental leave does not come under my Department's remit, I do support its extension 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 also support an increase in the earnings threshold for this, and have raised this with the Minister for Finance.

On 28th October, my officials launched a public consultation on the new Affordable Childcare Scheme for Ireland. The consultation is focused on the details of the new scheme, as set out in the published policy paper, and is intended to inform the further refinement of the scheme in advance of its implementation in September 2017.

I would like to stress that my Department is very much open to hearing views about supports for parents raising children at home, while also ensuring that the measures announced recently are implemented with the needs of children and their parents to the fore. The Affordable Childcare Scheme responds to a specific need to increase the affordability, quality and supply of early years and school-age care and education services in Ireland. It also reflects a core recommendation of the 2015 Inter-Departmental Group on Future Investment in Childcare in Ireland to replace the existing targeted childcare schemes, which are administratively complex and inadequate in terms of accessibility, with a single, streamlined and more user-friendly scheme.

It is important to recognise that the Affordable Childcare Scheme is only one element of a broader set of commitments and supports aimed at parents and children. Although the provision of improved services for centre-based care is very important, we will not lose sight of the needs of children who do not attend them. In this regard, Better Outcomes Brighter Futures: The National Policy Framework for Children and Young Peoplecontains a commitment to produce Ireland’s first-ever National Early Years Strategy. The intention is to deliver a cross-cutting strategy which will take a joined-up, whole of Government approach to the issue of supporting children and their families during the early years (0-6 years). The drafting of the National Early Years Strategy is very advanced and an Open Policy Debate on the strategy was held on the 7th December 2016 with a view to publication shortly thereafter.

I, and the wider Department, believe that we need to develop the quality, affordability and accessibility of centre-based care, and that achieving this should not affect the supports that we can offer parents who opt for other forms of care for their children.

In this regard, my Department is committed to reviewing future policies, and liaising with other Departments, to ensure that options for childcare provision respect parental choice.