Vol. 400 No. 6
13 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Labour if he intends to take any steps to encourage employers in both the public and private sectors to provide workplace creches or child-minding facilities to encourage the greater participation of parents and especially women in the workforce; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The Deputy will no doubt be aware of the important advance made in respect of the public service on this matter under the Programme for National Recovery. It has been agreed that childcare facilities will be provided on the basis of the State providing the physical space and the staff paying the running costs. Details of timing and implementation have yet to be worked out.
As regards the private sector I note that the role of employers in the provision of workplace creches has been limited in most EC countries and that where it exists, it is usually in response to a strong demand for such provision among a substantial number of parents employed by an employer or employers in an area. I believe that workplace provision can make a useful contribution to encouraging the participation of women in the labour market and that arrangements for the provision of such facilities would be an appropriate matter for negotiation between the social partners. I also believe that there is a need to create the conditions for the building up of a network of services by employers in the private sector, and I have set up a working group to advise me on possible further practical initiatives which I can take in that sphere.
Will the Minister agree that this goes to the heart of inequality in the Irish workforce? The Minister has expressed the view that legislation alone will not get rid of inequality but will he accept that we are proceeding at a snail's pace towards equality notwithstanding the framework agreed in the Programme for National Recovery? I should like to draw the Minister's attention to the report submitted to the Minister for Labour in 1983 on the provision of child minding and creche facilities. Will the Minister accept that the absence of them is one of the major obstacles to female participation in the workforce and that it will require more than the framework set down in the Programme for National Recovery to change the attitude of employers at job level?
The Deputy will accept that many of the recommendations of the report on child care facilities are matters for the Minister for Health. Many of them are covered in the Child Care Bill which is before the House. After years of talking about the matter the central review committee of the Programme for National Recovery are considering this. There has been a move in that direction recently in local authorities, Dublin Corporation and a number of Government Departments and the discussions under the Programme for National Recovery can make progress. The review will determine the numbers and the space which needs to be provided for facilities for those who badly need them and cannot pay the exorbitant costs in the private market.
Will the Minister agree that the Houses of the Oireachtas have a tremendous opportunity to give an example to the rest of the employers in the State in this regard? We will be allocating space over the next few months and today the women's rights committee formally proposed — and will consult the relevant Ministers — that the Houses should set up a creche and child care facilities for the staff. In that way we could bring about the equality which we all seek and we would be an example to other employers.
I should have to pass that question back to you, a Cheann Comhairle, because you are responsible for accommodation in the House.
I will treat the matter very sympathetically.
