The Government is aware of the need to support the development of child care service provision and identified child care as a priority area for investment in the National Development Plan, 2000-2006. The plan provides £250 million to my Department's equal opportunities child care programme to invest in the development of child care service provision. The objectives of the programme are to maintain and increase the number of child care facilities, increase the number of child care places and improve the quality of child care services in Ireland. Funding will be provided under the following initiatives: capital grants for community groups and not-for-profit organisations for the establishment, maintenance, renovation or upgrading of child care facilities; staffing grants to support staffing costs for community based child care facilities; for the first time, capital grants for self-employed child care providers catering for not more than 20 children at any one time, to build, renovate or upgrade child care facilities; grants towards the development of local child care networks; grants to enhance the services of the national voluntary child care organisations; grants to encourage and promote local child care training models that assist in the enhancement of quality child care provision; and innovative projects identified over the course of the national development plan.
On 28 April I launched the capital and staffing grant measures. They were also advertised during the same week in the national and provincial newspapers. My Department has received over 3,500 requests for application forms for these measures since their launch.
I intend that applications will be processed as quickly as possible so that funding can be administered to qualified projects without undue delay. To this end my Department will ensure that the appraisal committee, which will make recommendations on grant approval, will meet on a monthly basis for the rest of this year.