The equal opportunities child care programme provides grant assistance for the staffing costs of community-based and not-for-profit child care services which have a clear focus on disadvantage and which support disadvantaged parents to access employment, education or training. It is not intended that funding under the programme will meet the full cost of running a service. Additional staffing and other running costs must be met from fees and other sources.
Applications for staffing funding undergo a thorough assessment by Area Development Management Limited, which has been engaged by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform to carry out the day-to-day administration of the grants under the programme. The criteria used during the assessment and appraisal of applications include the socioeconomic and demographic profile of the local area, the quality of the proposal, the capacity of the group to implement the project, the level of integration and co-ordination, the proposed operating hours and weeks and whether the proposal represents value for money.
To determine the focus on disadvantage in assessing staffing grant applications, ADM also reviews, inter alia, the socioeconomic profile of the parents, community and wider area for whom and in which the service is being delivered, the fee structure to be implemented by the group to ensure it is appropriate and it takes account of the differing economic circumstances of the client group and the ethos of the group towards specific target groups. ADM also looks at external data such as the location of a project in a RAPID or CLÁR area and the relevant index of disadvantage in the area which has been developed on the basis of census material.
Every recommendation that comes to me about the funding of projects is made after clarifications between ADM Limited and the grant applicant, if necessary, and after consultation between ADM Limited and the relevant county child care committee on the suitability of the project and the extent to which it meets local need. All proposals are reviewed by the programme's appraisal committee, which is chaired by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, before I make a decision on the recommendation.
Staffing grants are normally made available for three years in the first instance. Groups which are approved for staffing funding under the programme are subject to monitoring by Area Development Management Limited and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The group in question was awarded a staffing grant of €212,681, over three years, in November 2001. The Deputy may be aware that I have approved the continuation of the existing levels of staffing grant assistance until 31 August 2005 for groups whose first three-year funding has elapsed, subject to the groups continuing to deliver child care services in accordance with their agreed targets.
In a number of services, the levels of disadvantage among parents are such that the families would be unable to pay full economic fees and therefore those services require ongoing State support towards their staffing costs if they are to continue to support parents who are trying to break away from the cycle of disadvantage through education, training or employment. The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform is reviewing the arrangements for the ongoing support of such services where necessary. Final discussions on the review are taking place. I expect that the outcome of the review will be forwarded to the groups in question shortly.