Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 October 2015
16. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the measures that were introduced in budget 2016 to tackle some of the issues many parents face with child care, particularly in relation to the financial burden; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35417/15]
View answerPrior to Budget 2016, my Department provided funding of more than a quarter of a billion euro annually to support the implementation of a number of childcare support programmes that assist parents in accessing quality childcare. This funding, which is in addition to the direct support provided to all parents in the form of Child Benefit, supports more than 100,000 children each year. The childcare programmes include the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, the Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) programme which provides funding to community childcare services to support disadvantaged or low income families, and a number of programmes that support parents returning to work or availing of education or training opportunities.
In Budget 2016, I announced an €85 million package of additional investment for childcare. This includes funding for:
- An extension to the ECCE programme from September 2016 so that children can enrol in the ECCE programme at age three and continue in the programme until they make the transition to primary school. This will reduce childcare costs by an additional €1,500 and will increase the current 38 weeks of free pre-school provision by an average of 23 weeks, and up to 61 weeks depending on the child's date of birth and the age at which they subsequently start primary school.
- A suite of supports to help children with a disability to participate fully in the ECCE programme. This delivers on my commitment to address these children's particular needs in mainstream pre-school settings.
- 8,000 extra places in 2016 under the CCS programme to help low income and disadvantaged families access quality childcare. These 8,000 places are in addition to a further 5,000 CCS places I announced recently with savings achieved in 2015.
- A range of measures to improve the quality of early years and school-aged childcare, including an audit of quality; an extended Learner Fund to support professionalisation of the sector; and an enhanced inspection regime.
The additional funding announced as part of Budget 2016 will also provide for a range of measures to improve the provision of after-school childcare, including a once-off minor capital fund to develop after-school services using existing school (and other community) facilities in conjunction with both community/not-for-profit and private providers.
