Vol. 506 No. 2
49 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his response to the recent proposals from the Child Care 2000 campaign; the action, if any, he will take to provide affordable child care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15365/99]
I wish to advise the Deputy that I am aware of Child Care 2000's campaign proposals. The Deputy is probably aware that the organisations involved in the Child Care 2000 campaign were in fact represented on the expert working group on child care, which was established by the Government under Partnership 2000 to devise a national framework for the development of the child care sector and which was chaired by my Department. A number of the proposals outlined in the Child Care 2000 campaign were also put forward by the expert working group, whose report I launched last February.
The expert working group agreed recommendations for a national child care strategy which would be implemented over a period of seven years and included proposals to support the development of child care services to quality standards, including proposals for an integrated package of supports for parents at various income levels to assist them in purchasing child care places.
The Government considered that the report of the expert working group provided a good base for discussion on the future development of child care. However it also recognised that child care is a complex issue and that two other reports, the report of Commission on the Family and the report of the National Forum for Early Childhood Education, which also contained proposals in relation to child care, had to be considered, The Government, therefore, decided to establish an interdepartmental committee on child care to evaluate, cost and prioritise the child care proposals in all three reports, in addition to the Government's child care proposals in An Action Programme for the Millennium.
The committee is chaired by the second secretary at my Department and its membership is comprised of representatives at senior level of relevant Government Departments. Copies of the Childcare 2000 campaign proposals have been circulated to the members of the committee for their information.
