Written Answers. - Child Care Services.
Jan O'Sullivan
Question:
64
Ms O'Sullivan
asked the
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform
the child care groups which have received grants under the equal opportunities scheme in 2000 and to date in 2001; if, in each case, the grant was capital or for staffing; the amount in each case; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[15023/01]
My Department has responsibility for leading the development of child care service delivery in Ireland. Some £344 million comprising EU and Exchequer funding has been allocated to my Department over the course of the National Development Plan 2000 to 2006 to improve child care provision and quality throughout the country.
The funding, which has a focus on equal opportunities and social inclusion, is being promoted as the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-2006 and is targeted at services which offer day care facilities and services for pre-school children and school going children out of school hours. The overall aims of the programme are to improve the quality of child care in Ireland, to increase the number of child care facilities and child care places and to introduce a co-ordinated approach to the delivery of child care services.
I am sure that the Deputy will acknowledge that this funding represents the most significant investment in child care service provision by any Government in the history of the State.
The Deputy has requested a list of all the capital and staffing grants to child care groups which I have allocated since the start of the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-2006. Under the programme there are available capital and staffing grants for community based not for profit child care groups and, for the first time, capital grants for self-employed private providers of child care services.
Applications for funding under these measures can be made by submitting the relevant application form to my Department's equal opportunities child care section. Completed applications are assessed initially, on behalf of my Department, by Area Development Management Limited. This is followed by an assessment by the Programme Appraisal Committee chaired by my Department before referral to me for final decision. As outlined in the general guidelines for funding measures, applications are assessed according to the following five criteria: the socio-economic profile of the area relating to the application; the quality of the proposal; the capacity of the applicant(s) to implement the project; the level of integration-co-ordination; and the costings-value for money of the proposal.
Since the announcement of the availability of grants in April 2000, more than £40 million in funding has been committed by my Department under the equal opportunities child care programme in the form of grants, capital and staffing, to child care projects. To date, I have approved more than 470 applications for funding to child care services on the ground which will support 14,000 child care places and which will include the creation of almost 6,000 new child care places as a result of funding under my Department's equal opportunities child care programme. The funding will also enable many of the services extend their hours of operation and enhance the quality of the child care provided. The measures in place reaffirm this Government's commitment to keeping child care at the forefront of its social agenda.
As the list of grant recipients represents 470 projects across the country, I will not detail them here but will make them available to the Deputy in tabular format as soon as possible.
In addition to the 470 projects approved for capital and staffing grants, I have approved funding of £10.3 million for quality improvement measures such as training, innovative projects, local networks, the childminders' initiative and supports for the national voluntary child care organisations. This brings the total funding approved under the equal opportunities child care programme to more than £50 million to date.
Copies of the general guidelines and the relevant application forms are available from my Departments equal opportunities child care section which can be contacted on a dedicated lo-call line, 1890 20-90-30.
