Vol. 502 No. 4
152 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been dawn to the fact that 20 per cent of those interviewed by northside partnership refused to accept jobs due to child care issues; if he will confirm this information; the proposals, if any, he has to ensure that people can take up employment and receive assistance with child care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8469/99]
I am aware of this survey which was conducted with employers in the context of the northside partnership's JOBSMATCH project.
Child care is without doubt one of the issues impacting on a parent's ability to avail of work, training and educational opportunities. As the Deputy is probably aware the Government made its commitment clear in relation to the child care issue when it decided on 2 February last to establish an interdepartmental committee on child care to evaluate, cost and prioritise proposals for the development of child care which are set out in recent reports on the matter. This evaluation will address the matter raised by the Deputy.
The committee is chaired by my Department and comprises representatives, at senior level, of the relevant Government Departments. It is required to report back to Government within a period of six months. The committee has already met on two occasions to date.
The Government also announced new measures to support child care in the budget of December 1998. The new measures provide for the introduction of a capital allowance for capital expenditure incurred on the construction, extension or refurbishment of a building or part of a building used as a child care facility. They also provide exemption from benefit in kind taxation of certain child care services provided by employers to employees on a free or subsidised basis.
My Department also provides funding for the development of child care facilities through the equal opportunities child care programme which is designed to support local communities and employers who are trying to facilitate women and men who have child care responsibilities while accessing training, education and employment. It is targeted particularly at parents in disadvantaged areas and those on low pay who cannot access training, education and employment opportunities due to the lack of affordable good quality child care. The equal opportunities child care programme is administered by Area Development Management Limited (ADM) on behalf of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Funding is being provided under the following three initiatives:
Capital Infrastructure
