Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 28 October 2004
309 Mr. Morgan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the percentage and number of children in the three to four age group in the State who are in receipt of pre-school education; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26660/04]
View answer310 Mr. Morgan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the percentage and number of children in the zero to two age group in the State who are cared for in crèches; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26661/04]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 309 and 310 together.
My Department has responsibility for the delivery of the equal opportunities child care programme which aims to expand the availability of child care places to support the child care needs of parents who are in employment, education and training. My Department is not involved in the direct delivery of child care services, which in Ireland is done by a mix of community based and private providers of centre based services and by childminders. As a result, no data are systematically gathered on the percentages and numbers of children in the zero to two age group who are cared for in crèches, or in the three to four age group who are in receipt of pre-school education.
Nevertheless, the Central Statistics Office, CSO, quarterly national household survey on child care usage which was published in mid 2003 does provide some data which may be of interest to the Deputy. In the September to November 2002 period, when the survey was undertaken, it was estimated that 36,700 pre-school children availed of child care in the crèche-Montessori category, with a further 6,100 primary children using the category crèche-Montessori. In that survey, the CSO grouped a number of child care services under the category crèche or Montessori, namely, crèche, naíonra, nursery, Montessori school, playgroup, pre-school, and sessional child care.
311 Mr. Morgan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of work based crèche places in the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26662/04]
View answerMy Department has responsibility for the delivery of the equal opportunities child care programme, EOCP, which aims to expand the availability of child care places to support the child care needs of parents who are in employment, education and training. My Department is not involved in the direct provision of child care services, which, in Ireland, are delivered by a mix of community based and private providers of centre based services and by childminders. Crèches and other child care facilities are required to notify their existence to the health boards on behalf of the Minister for Health and Children in accordance with the Child Care Act 1991. As a result, no data is systematically gathered by my Department on the numbers of child care facilities, including work based crèches, throughout the country.
Capital funding has been made available to not for profit consortia to facilitate the development of three work based crèches to date under the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-2006.
312 Mr. Morgan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the amount and percentage of GDP spent on early childhood care and education; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26663/04]
View answerMy Department has responsibility for the delivery of the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-2006, which aims to expand the availability of child care places to support the child care needs of parents who are in employment, education and training. My Department is not involved in the direct delivery of child care services, which in Ireland is done by a mix of community based and private providers of centre based services and by childminders.
In 2004 the Minister for Finance made available the amount of €68.233 million for the delivery of the EOCP. This represents 0.047% of GDP based on the estimate for GDP made by the Department of Finance in August 2004 which GDP will be €144.9 billion this year. This does not include expenditure by other Departments which also support the child care sector.
