Frances Fitzgerald
Question:67 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Finance the policy of his Department on the development of child care services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7500/99]
Written Answers. - Child Care Services.
As I stated in my December Budget Statement, the Government is conscious of the growing wish for a recognition of child care needs in the tax system. I took the opportunity in the Budget Statement to outline a number of the important and complex issues that the question of child care tax relief raises.
The first of these issues is the question of equity between parents who stay at home to care for children and those who have to meet additional child care expenses when they go out to work. There is also the need for a balanced treatment of those who are in the tax system and those who rely on social welfare benefits and for finding the right balance between measures to help towards the cost of child care and measures to improve the supply and quality of child care facilities to meet the growing demand.
The Government has already discussed these issues in some detail and proposes to examine the matter further. Certain measures were announced in the budget to facilitate and encourage the supply of child care places and these are provided for in the Finance Bill which is at Report Stage before the House today.
The Government will, of course, take into consideration the views of the interdepartmental committee which the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has established to evaluate the recommendations made by the various expert groups that have reported on the child care issue. Any proposals in the taxation area arising from this committee's deliberations will be considered in the context of the preparation of the next budget.