Written Answers. - Child Care Services.
Jan O'Sullivan
Question:
49
Ms O'Sullivan
asked the
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform
the reasons for the underspending of ?19 million in his Department's child care budget for 2001; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[6094/02]
As the Deputy is aware, my Department has been given responsibility for the co-ordination of child care service delivery during the period of the National Development Plan 2000-2006. The Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme was established in April 2000 as a seven year programme to increase the number of child care facilities and places in Ireland and to improve the quality of child care services. The total funding allocated to my Department for these purposes during that seven year period of the programme is €437 million, of which €317 million was provided under the national development plan and is co-funded by the European Union.
The outturn of total expenditure on child care, current and capital, under the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme in 2001 was €30.338 million. My Department originally estimated that NDP expenditure on the development of child care services in 2001 would be €56.73 million. It is necessary, for the sake of clarity, to comment on the use of the term "underspending" in this context. My Department, in accordance with standard practice, estimated the sum of money which, on the basis of various assumptions, it believed would be spent in the year 2001.
These assumptions involved assessment as to the likely level of demand from the public for child care grants as well as assessments of various other matters that were extremely difficult to judge, such as the speed with which planning permission could be secured by individual applicants, the capacity of the grantees to source contractors and so on. There was no actual experience on which to make assessments in this regard; this was, in fact the first year in which significant demand – and consequently significant expenditure – could be expected to arise.
In the event, the estimated demand and estimated expenditure was well above the actual demand and expenditure experience. However, it would be quite wrong to conclude that this resulted in any loss to potential child care providers or any diminution in my Department's determination to deliver the Government's child care programme fully and effectively.
As we are dealing with a seven year expenditure programme, what happens is that the money representing the difference between estimated and actual expenditure in 2001 is simply retained for use in subsequent years. The entire funding of €437 million is to be spent over the seven year period and it could equally happen that a start of year estimate could be surpassed during any year depending on planning permission, staff recruitment, etc.
Given the benefit of last year's very valuable experience in relation to the pattern of actual demand, and in relation to matters such as the speed with which applicants for child care grant aid can get planning permission, can get contractors to start work on projects, etc., we will endeavour to ensure that our estimate for expenditure reflects in as far as possible the true figures that allow for the many variables that impact on it.
In February of 2001 the Cabinet Committee on Social Inclusion decided that there should be a consolidation of all funding for child care and as a result of this decision funding from other Departments was transferred to my Department. In addition in October 2000, as a result of negotiations with the social partners the Government decided to increase the overall funding for child care by €50.79 million. As a result of this decision the total allocation for the seven year strategy rose to €437 million and consequently the Estimate for 2001 was revised upwards to €88.521 million. The child care sector was unable to absorb the additional funding in a 12 month time-frame, for the reasons outlined above, and the additional funding will be spent over the life of the seven year strategy. This programme, as I have explained is a demand led scheme, needs led at local level, and is stimulating the development of many new community based and private services.
At €58.4 million, the estimated expenditure for child care for 2002 is a realistic but conservative figure, based on experience to date of the pro gramme operation for 2000 and 2001 and taking into account contractual commitments and EU rules for co-financed expenditure. Expenditure on child care projects is expected to increase significantly over the remaining years of the seven year strategy as approved projects are completed and existing and future grant applications are approved and brought on stream. The most important issue to note is that €437 million will be spent on child care over the life of the seven year strategy, estimated expenditure not reached in 2001 will be utilised over the period of the national development plan.
An important development in each county is the establishment of county child care committees. The county child care committees are formulating a child care plan for each county. The county child care committees will provide assistance and advice at local level, this will further stimulate the demand for funding in the areas most in need.
The Deputy will agree that to address the child care needs of the country it is vital that funding is wisely invested in quality child care services. Any child care service that receives funding under the Department's Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme must be of the highest standard and be a service that will be available and viable into the future. Where community projects are concerned they must serve the needs of the parents and children of the whole community. In many cases it is necessary to provide support to groups to enable them reach a stage where they can formulate a child care plan for their area leading to a quality proposal for funding. This development of the capacity of the sector forms a vital component of the work undertaken by my Department and ADM Limited and will be greatly advanced with the coming into being of the new county child care committees.
To date, since the introduction of the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme in mid-2000, I have approved grants for over 950 projects throughout the country at a cost of some €107 million. These grants are supporting over 28,500 child care places, of which 12,800 will be new child care places.
The Deputy will be aware that the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme comprises a number of different measures designed to stimulate the development of child care services. It includes a number of funding measures such as capital and staffing supports for community based child care projects; capital grants for private child care providers; grants towards child care training projects and quality improvement projects, and the recently announced supports for school age child care services. The programme is wide ranging and has many diverse elements designed to meet the overall objectives as outlined.
I assure the Deputy that there has not been, nor will there be, any diminution of my commitment and the Government's commitment to expenditure on child care over the remaining years of the programme. The funding allocated towards child care represents the largest amount of funding ever provided for this extremely important sector and it is our intention to ensure that all of this money is spent where it is most needed and where it will provide the greatest benefits to our children and their parents.
