Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 February 2013
37. Deputy Kevin Humphreys asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will be supporting the parent child home programme operated by the Early Learning Initiative in the Dublin Docklands area; if her attention has been drawn to its efforts to achieve a five year funding goal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6997/13]
View answerMy Department currently provides support to parents to assist them with the cost of childcare. This support is provided through the provision of two targeted childcare support programmes - the Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) programme, which provides funding to community-based childcare services to enable them to provide childcare at reduced rates to low income and/or parents on social welfare; and the Childcare Education and Training Support (CETS) programme, which provides payments towards the weekly cost of childcare places for trainees and students deemed qualified by FÁS and the VEC. My Department also provides the funding that supports the universal Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme which gives one free pre-school year to all children before they commence primary school.
As part of Budget 2013 I, together with my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, was pleased to announce a new After-School Childcare initiative which will be targeted at low-income families and supporting parents availing of employment opportunities. The initiative is expected to receive full year funding of €14 million to provide over 6,000 quality after-school places for children attending primary school, as well as supporting parents to take up employment. Lack of access to affordable, quality childcare is a significant barrier to many low income and disadvantaged families when seeking to avail of work opportunities. There are currently in excess of 100,000 children being supported under the above programmes.
I recently launched three evaluation reports on the Early Learning Initiative and I am aware of the positive impact of this programme on children and families in the communities where this programme operates. However the priority for my Department is to ensure that the childcare support programmes that I have outlined above and in which considerable investment has already been made, continue to be delivered from quality settings and are available to the many children throughout the country that need them.
I was in a position to approve funding of €31,500 for this initiative from my Department's National Lottery allocation last year.
