I propose to take Questions Nos. 3, 10 and 30 together. Last year I established a task force on child care services for working parents to advise me on the potential for early practical action to develop a number of prototypes of child care services appropriate to Irish conditions. The task force are also to identify measures other than child care services which can be pursued by employers and workers to help workers combine family responsibilities and career.
The task force submitted an interim report to me some time ago recommending that their membership should be extended to include a representative each from the Federation of Irish Employers and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. This has been done and I expect a final report shortly.
Deputies will no doubt be aware of the important advance made in respect of the public service on this matter under the Programme for National Recovery. It has been agreed that child care facilities will be provided on the basis of the State providing the physical space and staff paying the running costs. Under the Programme for Economic and Social Progress it has been agreed that the Government will continue to encourage the provision on a progressive basis, of child care services for workers in the public service.
I believe that the Government's role in relation to child care services in the private sector is to stimulate the development of such services by employers individually and collectively including partnerships between public authorities and employers, and by private sector organisations rather than actually to provide the services. I expert the task force to make recommendations in this area.
I also believe that the questions of provision of child care facilities by employers and flexible working arrangements, career breaks and other such schemes are appropriate matters for negotiation between the social partners.
For my part I have emphasised to FÁS the importance of training programmes to facilitate entry and reintegration of women into the labour market and I have focused more and more in recent times on training in the new technologies and the non-traditional areas, in this way reducing the barriers to women's access to the labour market.
I am hopeful that some financial assistance may become available from the Community very soon for the provision of child care facilities which operate in conjunction with the provision of training for women and the creation of small businesses and co-operatives by women.