Gay Mitchell
Question:322 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will sanction child care for Dublin 12; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26727/04]
View answerThursday, 28 October 2004
Questions (323)
Written answers
In recognition of the many achievements of the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-06 up to December 2003 the funding for the programme was recently increased to €449.3 million following the mid-term evaluation of the national development plan. Every locality has benefited significantly from grants to provide new and enhanced community based child care facilities and indeed to support capital developments in the private child care sector.
The total funding committed under the equal opportunities child care programme up to the end of September 2004 is over €264.3 million. Over 2,600 grants have been awarded to child care providers and community groups, which will, when fully drawn down, lead to the creation of approximately 29,700 new child care places, and will support almost 28,000 existing places. In the Dublin 12 area alone funding, totalling € 2.25 million, under the programme has been allocated to 17 projects to date. This funding will lead to the creation of an additional 261 new child care places in the area and will support a further 403 existing places.
I understand that there are a number of applications on hand in my Department for capital grant assistance to establish new services in the Dublin 12 area. The Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-06 is a seven-year development programme which aims to increase the availability and quality of child care to support parents in employment, education and training.
There has been considerable demand from community based groups for capital grant assistance under the programme and every county has benefited significantly from grants to provide new and enhanced community based child care facilities and indeed to support capital developments in the private child care sector. ADM, on behalf of my Department, is currently carrying out an extensive review of the programme's capital commitments to date, numbering over 1,100 and at a value of €114 million, to ensure that all the grant commitments previously entered into will be realised. Projects may be awaiting planning permission or the completion of tender processes before reasonable assurance can be taken that they will proceed and, if they do not, the funding set aside can be decommitted and made available to another project. Expenditure under the programme covers the period to end 2007 and must take place in a planned manner as must grant approvals to ensure that the programme can meet its financial commitments at all times.
In addition, my Department has recently reviewed the different budget lines under the EOCP including the capital programme to ensure that the most effective use is made of all remaining funding in accordance with the programme's objectives and this has brought to €157 million the total allocation for the capital development of child care under the present 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 exceeds €30 million, of which about €25 million is being earmarked for community based not for profit child care groups which provide services for young children to support their parents who may be in employment, education and training.
I intend to allocate the remaining capital funding under this strand of the Government's commitment to child care to address the most immediate service gaps. As a result, all the projects in the pipeline on 30 April 2004 have been reviewed again by ADM Limited on the basis of geographical need, the range of services being offered, value for money and the capacity of the groups to complete a project before the end of the programme in 2007. Those projects which best meet the criteria will receive priority funding from the capital funding which remains unallocated at this point.
I understand that the recommendations in relation to the allocation of the remaining funding are currently in preparation. If a project is recommended for funding as part of this process, its recommendation will be conditional upon its being able to establish that it can be completed within a fixed budget and a tight time frame. If a project is not recommended for priority funding at this time, it may be considered again should additional capital resources come available and if the project has adequately demonstrated that it would merit funding under the programme during the review process. The allocation of any additional funding which might come available to me will also be allocated on the basis of local need, levels of service being offered and value for money.
I do not doubt but that the success of the present strand of the programme and the need to continue to make child care available to support the child care needs of our still growing workforce 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.
Question No. 323 answered with QuestionNo. 316.