Written Answers. - Childcare Services.
Róisín Shortall
Question:
303
Ms Shortall
asked the
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform
his views on whether the situation where child care is being delivered by seven Government Departments is satisfactory; the proposals, if any, he has to bring all child care and child minding services under the remit of his Department in order that services can be co-ordinated; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[20460/98]
Child care services are provided by many Government Departments as an outcome of other policy objectives. The expert working group set up under Partnership 2000 reviewed this position and considered that my Department should aim to provide a co-ordinated framework through which the childcare outcomes of all Departments and agencies would be co-ordinated. It considered that no one Department on its own would be in a position to meet all childcare needs and that what was needed was a co-ordination mechanism which would ensure that the various policies which resulted in childcare provision would be delivered within a co-ordinated framework.
The Government decided on 20 April 1998 that I should have responsibility for drawing the different elements of childcare together, in consultation with other concerned Ministers, in order to consider the preparation of a co-ordinated national plan.
My Department chairs the expert working group on childcare which was established by the Government in July 1997 to devise a national framework for the development of childcare facilities in Ireland.
The working group is considering a range of childcare issues, many of which fall within the responsibility-remit of a number of Government Departments or statutory bodies viz: financial and employment implication of an integrated approach to the development of childcare facilities in Ireland; registration, training and qualifications; resourcing and sustaining childcare in urban disadvantaged areas; resourcing and sustaining childcare in rural areas; needs and rights of children in relation to a national framework; equality of access and participation in relation to a national framework; standards and regulations; and early childhood education.
The expert working group is currently preparing a report and recommendation which it intends to finalise in December 1998 including proposals for the necessary structures and mechanisms to implement and monitor a national framework for childcare.
Membership of the expert working group includes a number of Government Departments which have roles in the area of childcare including the Department of Health and Children, the Department of Education and Science, the Department of Social Community and Family Affairs, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Department of Finance, the Department of the Taoiseach and the Office of the Revenue Commissioners. It also includes representatives from statutory bodies, social partners, non-governmental organisations, parents and individuals who have expertise in the area of childcare.
My Department is also currently establishing a central database to improve the co-ordination and impact of childcare measures and actions supported in Ireland by the EU. The database will document and quantify the range and extent of childcare provision and training being supported under the community support framework and establish baseline data on other facilities-services in childcare being supported by the State.
Area Development Management Ltd., who are administering the database on behalf of my Department, will gather information on the level of existing services in terms of quantity and quality through a local county "audit" of group based services. From this information it will be possible to identify areas of low/non existent provision and gather evidence of the demand in excess of current provision. The results of this audit will be fed into a specially designed database and the details in relation to type and location will be superimposed on the county maps. These maps will also show child population, levels of disadvantage based on census data and agreed deprivation indicators.
It is planned to pilot the childcare audit in 1998. Following the pilot experiment it is planned to carry out the full childcare audit and database in 1999.
