Vol. 496 No. 7
64 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of cre ches, nurseries and child minders registered with the health boards; his estimate of the numbers who have not yet registered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23788/98]
Part VII of the Child Care Act, 1991, provides for the supervision and inspection by health boards of pre-school services. In 1998, a further £8 million revenue has been made available to strengthen child care services. This includes £500,000 for the continued implementation by the health boards of Part VII of the Child Care Act, 1991, and the Child Care (Pre-School Services) Regulations, 1996, which give effect to the provisions of Part VII, in regard to pre-school services. The regulations apply to pre-schools, playgroups, day nurseries, cre ches, childminders looking after more than three children and other similar services which cater for children under six years of age.
The purpose of the regulations is to build on the existing good standards in our pre-school services and gradually improve standards throughout the sector to secure the health, safety and welfare of pre-school children and to promote the development of children attending pre-school services. Under the regulations, pre-school providers are obliged to notify their local health board that they are carrying on or proposing to carry on a pre-school service. The latest information provided to my Department by the health boards indicates that 2,624 notifications have been received nationally. Precise information on the number of pre-school providers who have not complied with the notification requirements is difficult to compile. However health boards are taking active steps to pursue non-notifiers.
A working group to monitor the implementation of Part VII of the Child Care Act, 1991, is in place. The group is representative of all the health boards and is concerned with ensuring a consistent approach to the implementation of the regulations. It is intended that the operation of the regulations will be reviewed after three years, with a view to effecting any changes considered necessary at that stage. As a first step in this process, I recently initiated a review of the inspection process through the working group. Non-notification is among the issues being addressed in the review process.
