Written Answers. - Child Care Facilities.
Ivor Callely
Question:
16
Mr. Callely
asked the
Minister for Equality and Law Reform
if he is satisfied with the development of child care facilities and related matters for parents with family responsibilities to enable them to participate in the workplace; his understanding of such matters; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[24627/96]
Michael Woods
Question:
21
Dr. Woods
asked the
Minister for Equality and Law Reform
the plans, if any, he has to introduce legislation and/or regulations to provide and monitor child care and to ensure that women have an equal opportunity to participate in the workforce in view of the widespread concern at the lack of provision for child care and child care facilities.
[24651/96]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 21 together.
The Government is conscious of the need for child care facilities for parents with family reponsibilities to enable them to participate in the workplace and is committed to the stimulation of the development of such facilities by employers, parents and community interests.
The Government has sought to address the need for child care facilities for parents with family responsibilities through a number of initiatives. I set up a scheme of funding in my Department to assist in the development of a number of pilot child care projects in disadvantaged areas. The aim of this scheme is to provide support for the provision of local child care initiatives to enable those with family responsibilities to avail of training, retraining and employment opportunities which they would otherwise be unable to do in the absence of a child care facility. To date, grants totalling £1,650,000 have been issued to 108 approved projects. A further £800,000 has been provided in my Department's 1997 Estimate for existing and new projects under the initiative.
In addition, as a result of the National Development Plan, the Human Resources Operational Programme of the EU Community Support Framework has provided almost £8 million to support equal opportunities measures, including child care initiatives, over the period of the programme. As part of this FÁS, under the aegis of my colleague the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, is committing £1.5 million to child care training measures and will supplement this with support for child care facilities for its trainees. From 1997 to the end of the operational programme, the Department of Education will devote £900,000 each year to support child care provision for participants on the vocational opportunities scheme and the Youthreach programme. The Department of health currently provides £2 million per year for pre-school services for disadvantaged children. Although mainly targeted at children at risk, these places also benefit working parents.
Responsibility for legislation governing the monitoring of child care lies with my colleague the Minister for Health. Part VII of the Child Care Act, 1991 provides for the supervision and inspection by health boards of pre-school services. I understand that new regulations which will give effect to the provisions of Part VII of the Act will be introduced before the end of this month. There are no proposals to introduce legislation on the provision of child care.
An evaluation of my Department's pilot scheme is nearing completion. I await with interest the additional insight which both this evaluation and implementation of the Department of Health Regulations will provide so that appropriate policy measures may be drawn up to respond to any major gaps which are signalled. My Department will also seek to address related matters in this area, including the preparation of legislation on parental leave to follow the existing statutory provisions for maternity and adoptive leave which I introduced in 1994 and 1995. While the Maternity Protection Act, 1994 and the Adoptive Leave Act, 1995 are important supports for the growing numbers of mothers who are increasingly opting to continue to participate on the labour market, the availability of parental leave as a statutory right to both parents will be an important development in facilitating greater participation in the workplace for fathers and mothers.
The provision of child care facilities, as a means to ensuring equality of opportunity in the workplace, is a matter appropriate for attention in the context of collective bargaining. Earlier this year the Employment Equality Agency, which operates under the aegis of my Department, launched a valuable publication entitled "Introducing Family Friendly Policies in the Workplace".
Recognising that the traditional model of full-time carer in the home is changing and the consequent need for flexibility to achieve a better balance of work and family responsibilities, the publication identifies a range of practical initiatives, including child care supports, which can help in achieving that necessary balance. Employers and employees can select the arrangements most suitable to the combining of the needs of business with personal responsibilities.
Women currently comprise over one-third of the labour force and over half of these women are married. In many cases, the availability of child care is a crucial factor to their participation and, as my comments above indicate, the necessary facilities are generally available. However, they are not yet sufficiently widely available and my Department will continue to promote the adoption of family friendly arrangements in the workplace, which have been shown to be beneficial both to business as well as employees.
