Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 5 May 2004
151 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the progress made on the application for capital grant from a facility (details supplied) in County Sligo for the provision of a quality affordable flexible child care for all sections of the local community; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12760/04]
View answer: The day to day administration of the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-2006 is undertaken by Area Development Management Limited, which has been engaged by my Department to carry out thorough assessments of all applications for grant assistance under the programme, on my behalf. All large scale capital projects are referred by ADM Limited to an independent external building specialist to assess the suitability of the proposal and its value for money. I am aware that there has been significant ongoing dialogue between the group and ADM Limited with regard to this application. On completion of the assessment process this application will be considered by the programme appraisal committee, chaired by my Department, which will make a funding recommendation to me before I make a final decision on the matter.
The Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-2006 is a seven year development programme. The progress of the programme was commented upon very favourably by the mid-term evaluators of both the regional operational programmes and the National Development Plan 2000-2006. Expenditure under the programme must take place in a planned manner and covers the period to end 2007. Accordingly, grant approvals must take place in a carefully planned manner to ensure that the programme can meet its financial commitments at all times.
I would advise the Deputy that there has been considerable demand from community based groups for capital grant assistance under the programme and every county has benefited from significant grant commitments to provide new and enhanced community based child care facilities. ADM on behalf of my Department is currently carrying out an extensive review of the programme's capital commitments to date to ensure that those grant commitments previously entered into will in fact be realised by the groups on the ground. The Deputy will appreciate that over 1,100 capital grants have been allocated already totalling over €114 million. Many of these projects are either awaiting planning permission or the completion of tender processes before reasonable assurance can be taken that they will proceed. In the event that a project does not proceed, the funding can be decommitted and made available to another project.
The Department has recently reviewed the different budget lines under the EOCP in general and the capital programme in particular to ensure that the most effective use is made of all remaining funding including the capital measure in accordance with the objectives of the programme. This will involve some transfers between measures and the approval of the regional assemblies is needed. I expect that this technical process will be completed shortly and that it will bring to about €157 million the total allocation for the capital development of child care under the present Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-2006. This amount includes an element for the administration by ADM Limited of the capital programme. At the same time, an extensive review of child care provision on the ground has taken place to identify obvious service gaps, the filling of which will be a priority using the remaining capital funding which currently amounts to about €35 million. The careful analysis of this information is essential if the best use is to be made of the significant capital funding being provided by the Government to support the child care needs of parents who may be in employment, education or training.
The Deputy will appreciate that all counties have benefited from new projects and additional child care places under the programme. I intend to use the remaining capital funding under this strand of child care development to address the most immediate service gaps. As a result, all the projects in the pipeline will be reviewed to ensure that those projects which best meet the programme criteria and which can be completed by the end of the present programme will receive priority. The ability to bring a project to fruition before the end of the present programme is an important criterion at this stage as I am aware that it can frequently take time to complete a project and there are constraints to ensure that we maximise our EU funding.
I do not doubt but that the success of the present strand of the EOCP and the need to continue to make child care available to support the child care needs of our still growing work force will support my case for ongoing capital and current funding from Government for this key sector. Indeed should any additional funding become available before the end of the present national development plan, I would expect that the programme would again benefit from transfers.
