David Stanton
Question:85 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the plans he has to further assist those who wish to provide child care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15092/01]
Vol. 536 No. 6
85 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the plans he has to further assist those who wish to provide child care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15092/01]
My Department has responsibility for leading the development of child care service delivery in Ireland. The sum of £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. This, as I am sure the Deputy will acknowledge, represents the most significant investment in child care by any Government in the history of the State.
The initial allocation to my Department of IR£250 million under the national development plan has since been augmented by further funding under the anti-inflationary package for child care and the transfer of funding for school age child care from the Departments of Social Community and Family Affairs and Education and Science. The transfer of funds follows a recent Government decision to rationalise child care funding and move towards what is in essence a "one stop shop" for funding available for child care providers. The funding, which has a focus on equal opportunities and social inclusion, is being promoted as the Equal Opportunities Child Care Programme 2000-2006 and is targeted at services which offer daycare 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.
On 28 April 2000, I announced the availability of capital and staffing grants for community based ‘not for profit' child care organisations. Capital grants for small scale self-employed or private providers catering for no more than 20 children were also made available for the first time. In October 2000, I was pleased to announce that capital grants are now available to private providers who cater for more than 20 children. Grants are also available for quality improvement projects such as local child care networks, childcare training and innovative projects.
Applications for funding under these and other measures can be made by submitting the relevant application form to my Department's equal opportunities child care section. All applications will be dealt with in an identical manner and all applications should be made to my Department whether it is for a crèche facility or an after schools project and whether it is on school premises or in a community centre. Completed applications are assessed initially, on behalf of my Department, by Area Development Management Ltd. This is followed by an assessment by the programme appraisal committee chaired by my Department before referral to me for final decision.
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/coordination and the costings/value for money of the proposal.