Vol. 474 No. 6
149 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for the Environment if his attention has been drawn to the fact that there is a shortage of child care facilities in the north city area of Dublin in view of the planning guidelines adhered to by Dublin Corporation resulting in a failure to grant planning permissions in many cases; if he will intervene with the local authorities to rectify this growing problem; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3759/97]
Arising from the report of the Second Commission on the Status of Women, my Department asked each local authority in January 1994 to reexamine their existing practices in relation to the question of creches and child care facilities to ensure that they were in keeping with the findings of the report to the fullest extent possible. The authorities were reminded of the importance of the development plan as a mechanism for setting out a blueprint for the development of residential areas, commercial and industrial centres, and all of the associated infrastructure and servicing, to meet the local community's development needs, including the particular needs of women, as identified in the report. The Local Government (Planning and Development) Acts permit the attachment to planning permissions of conditions requiring the provision of facilities for child care, where these are considered necessary in the context of the particular development proposal and subject to proper planning and development considerations.
