Vol. 466 No. 6
14 Kathleen Lynch asked the Minister for Equality and Law Reform the proposals, if any, he has for the further expansion of his Department's pilot scheme for child care in disadvantaged areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12018/96]
A pilot child care initiative scheme was introduced by the Department in 1994 and has continued into 1995 and 1996. A sum of £800,000 has been included in the Department's Estimates in 1996 for the initiative.
The purpose of the scheme is to assist with the establishment, on a pilot basis, of child care measures utilising the skills of trained local people, to enable local residents to undertake education, training, re-training and employment opportunities which they would otherwise be unable to do in the absence of a child care facility. Grants are confined to groups in designated areas of disadvantage.
The scheme is administered on behalf of the Department by Area Development Management or ADM Limited. This is an independent company designated by the Government and the European Commission to support integrated local economic and social development in co-operation with relevant area partnership companies established by the Government in designated disadvantaged areas.
An evaluation of the pilot child care scheme to determine its effectiveness in achieving its objectives is under way and the Minister is awaiting a report in the matter, which will be available later this year. Discussions between officials of the Department and members of the staff of ADM are ongoing with regard to the 1996 allocation of grants under this schemes.
Is the Minister aware of any links which have been developed between the Department of Equality and Law Reform, the Department of Health, the Department of Education and the Department of Justice, all of which have responsibility for child care? Is this pilot scheme being evaluated in conjunction with schemes from other Departments?
The scheme applies to designated partnership areas of disadvantage and there is close co-operation between the various Government Departments and statutory agencies such as health boards and FÁS in respect of the integration and co-ordination of their work in those areas. I therefore presume there is close co-operation and there certainly should be. That was the intention behind the establishment of the partnership areas, the broad representative nature of the boards, and the co-operation required for the operation of the companies under the various statutory agencies. Looking at the list of bodies and groups which have received money from this initiative, it is clear that others — such as Cherish, which is well connected with the Department of Health — would be aware of those needs and would have ongoing communication with them.
I thank the Minister for that. Wearing his other hat, is he aware of any prospect of extra funding for this project, if the evaluation process shows that it is deserving of such resources in the coming year?
The figure for this year is £800,000 and the total financial allocation to ADM amounts to £1.25 million towards the cost of grants for approved projects. That is substantial funding from a standing start and we must now examine how effective it is. It had a clear purpose and intention, which was to enable parents to re-enter the workforce, either directly or indirectly through the training route, by allowing them to devote their time and energy to it while having their child care requirements facilitated at local level, in many cases by locally trained neighbours. The scheme is now running long enough for the evaluation study to determine whether it is achieving the objectives for which it was established.
The scheme is well directed in that it covers the areas of greatest disadvantage in the first instance. Does the Minister agree that it is still, relatively speaking, a small amount of money for the whole country, as this is a major factor preventing women getting a share in the workplace, either full-time or even part-time? In the evaluation, it would be important to look at the impact not only on disadvantaged areas but also on women throughout the country. Many women are trying to get back into the workforce and while they are not from disadvantaged areas they are disadvantaged as individuals in their circumstances. I ask the Minister to look at that aspect of the matter as this is in practice a widespread area of discrimination against women.
The amount of money may appear relatively small and the range of grants is quite extraordinary — it runs from £350 to £88,000. In some cases the money complements other public sector grants or public moneys made available to local communities. For example, in the Ringsend Community Centre a community child care playgroup has been established within an existing community building that is already in receipt of public sector funds and therefore the amount of money the playgroup receives is relatively small. The total effect of public support for many of these playgroups is therefore much larger than the figure of £800,000 might suggest.
