A precise breakdown in relation to unit costs for the provision of childcare facilities for infants and children in various age groups is not available. Both the capital and operational costs of the provision of this service up to the standards required in the Childcare (Pre-School Services) Regulations, 1996, varies depending on a number of factors including the type of service, the pre-inspection standard, the age of the children catered for, the staffing ratios, staffing costs, geographic location and any special arrangements required.
The Deputy will be aware that an expert working group on child care has been established under Partnership 2000. The group under the auspices of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, is currently examining the provision of a co-ordinated national framework for the development of a child care infrastructure including the financial and resourcing implications of its implementation. The group is due to finalise its report in December 1998.
In 1998, £8 million revenue has been made available by my Department 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.
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.
