Desmond J. O'Malley
Question:15 Mr. O'Malley asked the Minister for Equality and Law Reform the incentives, if any, he would give employers to introduce flexibility in hours of employment and provide child care facilities in the workplace.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Child Care Facilities.
Richard Bruton
Question:24 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Equality and Law Reform the proposals, if any, he has for child care facilities for parents who are working.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 15 and 24 together.
There are no proposals to provide incentives to employers in respect of workplace child care facilities. The question of flexible working hours is primarily a matter for employers and employees at the level of the individual enterprise. However, I welcome the commitment by the social partners in the Programme for Competitiveness and Work "to support voluntary initiatives at enterprise level on equal pay, equal treatment and equal opportunities".
Many employers will be aware that the introduction of family friendly practices such as child care and flexible working hours offer significant benefits to the organisations. These include helping employers to attract and retain committed, skilled and experienced staff by ensuring the safeguarding of investment in training and development and ultimately increasing efficiency and profitability.
The report of the working party on child care for working parents, which I have just received, acknowledges the value of flexible working hours arrangements and workplace child care provision. However, it clearly recommends the need to develop a wider range of options for child care provision than workplace nurseries. I am examining the working party's recommendations to determine what the Government can do to progress this area with the employer parent and community interests concerned.
I have already secured Government agreement to the inclusion of a provision of £1 million in this year's Estimate for my Department to assist on a pilot basis the initiation of projects for the establishment of child care centres in disadvantaged areas involving partnerships between local employers and community groups. This initiative while not targeted specifically at facilitating working parents will represent an important and worthwhile input by Government to stimulating increasing provision of child care facilities this year.
I am very disappointed with the Minister's reply. He often said how much he appreciates the work of the Commission on the Status of Women in recommending that allowances for capital costs incurred in providing child care facilities should be part and parcel of what happens in the workplace. In this instance I ask the Minister to act as a persuader with the social partners. It is not enough to say a wider range of facilities is needed than workplace nurseries. The workplace is one area where such facilities are not provided and it would be very valuable if the Minister supported the commission in this regard. Is he prepared to do that?
All politicians are persuaders in one form or another. Some employers, very sensibly, provide crèche facilities in the workplace and gain very substantially as a result. They also facilitate members of their staff by allowing flexible hours of work. Both those measures enable them to retain the services of skilled staff to the benefit of all concerned. The report of the working party on child care for working parents, which I received within the past few days and which will be published in due course, contains a large number of recommendations. Before undertaking any definitive steps I want to examine the numerous recommendations to see how we can progress the provision of child care facilities generally in places of work and community-based independent crèche facilities. I have secured for the first time for my Department £1 million to set up a number of pilot projects for the establishment of child care centres in disadvantaged areas, involving partnerships between local employers and community groups. I already had a number of discussions with groups with a view to getting such pilot projects under way. There are great advantages to be derived from this because it will provide an objective for setting up training programmes for child minders who, when trained, will have outlets which they can take up in these pilot projects, thereby having a snowball effect which will increase child care facilities of different types throughout the country. We are making progress on this issue and I assure the Deputy that I remain fully supportive of the concept.
The delay in placing child care on the political agenda is disgraceful. As the Minister is aware, we have the second lowest provision in Europe for child care. The delay in bringing the report of the working party on child care for working parents to the Minister is also disgraceful. When will the report be published and how does the Minister see himself playing a lead role in ensuring that greater flexibility is available to parents in the workforce? This is a key issue, some employers have responded very well but far too many have still not provided the flexible arrangements we need, which every European and national report said is essential for equality of opportunity.
As I said, the report has been long delayed. It contains a large number of recommendations which will have to be re-examined carefully to see which is practicable, capable of implementation and the costings. As the Deputy is aware child care facilities cover different situations, some applicable to working parents and others to mothers who may wish to take up education. I am particularly concerned about providing facilities in disadvantaged areas. When the Estimates for my Department were being prepared I sought £1 million from the Minister for Finance for pilot projects which I would like to set up. Indeed, if Deputies have any suggestions regarding the setting up of a pilot project, within those parameters, to serve disadvantaged areas I would be happy to consider them.
What are the Minister's guidelines in terms of disadvantage? Does he mean urban disadvantage, rural disadvantage or——
Gender disadvantage.
——gender disadvantage?
I make no distinction between rural and urban areas. Any area can be considered for a pilot project. The parameters are that it should be in a disadvantaged area and involve a plan for a partnership between local employers and community groups; areas of high unemployment where women wish to participate in educational or training courses or to take up employment. If any Deputy wishes to make proposals to me, within those parameters, I would be happy to consider them.
There are three urban areas in my county that badly need this provision and I will certainly provide the Minister with details.
I want a plan, not the name of the area.
I will provide the Minister with a plan.
The Minister is looking for someone to do his work.
I would be very happy to do it, that is the reason I got the money.
Does the Minister recognise that one of the biggest obstacles to women taking up employment, particularly low income employment, is the cost of child care? There are instances where women simply cannot afford to take up work and, indeed, employers complain about this. Is the Minister aware that employers benefit immensely when child care facilities are provided? Will he ensure that employers will contribute to and benefit from the provision of child care facilities? I accept the Minister's point about disadvantaged areas but surely the most important way out of disadvantage is where people can take up employment and where child care is linked directly with the possibility of employment? The implications of child care are often fundamental in the decision of a woman to take up employment.
I agree with the comments of Deputy McManus. The Government has allocated £1 million to a pilot project on this subject. The Deputy's comments are well taken. All the recommendations and suggestions in the child care report will be carefully examined and the report will be published in due course.
Will the Minister not accept that nothing has ever happened to promote women's or children's rights by virtue of a laissez faire attitude, that the Minister needs to devise solutions and that it is not enough endlessly to peruse the report from the Commission on the Status of Women and the new report? I suggest that if the Minister passed this to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Women's Rights some work might be done with it. Would he not agree that he is deviating when he calls the area of disadvantage into this debate? The issue of child care is a topic of the nineties, not just an issue of disadvantage. It relates to equality for women, the proper functioning of families and the workforce. It is an issue of huge importance with regard to children's rights. The laissez faire attitude of the Minister is driving everybody insane.
I was interested and gratified to hear Deputy O'Donnell decrying laissez faire. I had thought that laissez faire was of the very essence of the Progressive Democrat Party.
This is ridiculous.
As a member of the Labour Party, I do not believe in laissez faire policies and it is my intention to take a pro-active role so far as the provision of child care is concerned.
The Minister is laissez faire in regard to his legal arrangements.
I would be happy to have the report debated by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Women's Rights——
You are a disgrace.
——when it is published in due course. I look forward to that debate.
On a point of order, I have a letter from the Chair disallowing a question of mine to the Minister on whether he proposes to bring forward plans to control legal costs——
Deputy, it is not in order to raise that question now.
——in personal injuries cases, but it has been transferred to the Minister for Justice. I would have thought that it was appropriate.
The Deputy can consult the Ceann Comhairle's Office on that.
I will do that.