Vol. 506 No. 2
262 Mr. C. Lenihan asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will review the way in which the health board guidelines apply to crèche facilities and those engaged in the child care business in view of the belief that these are too stringent. [15169/99]
The purpose of the Child Care (Pre-School Services) Regulations 1996, is to build on the existing good standards in our pre-school services and gradually improve standards throughout the sector to secure the health, safety and welfare of pre-school children and to promote the development of children attending pre-school services.
Under the regulations, pre-school providers are obliged to notify their local health board that they are carrying on or propose to carry on a pre-school service. On receipt of notification, the health board will provide relevant information to the applicant and arrange for an inspection to be carried out by an authorised person.
The notification and inspection process is kept under review by the health boards. The main deficiencies identified by the inspection process relate to having a second adult on the premises to ensure adequate supervision of pre-school children at all times and the availability of adequate space per child in the premises.
Where deficiencies are identified, the health board and the providers work in a co-operative manner to make specific improvements in a planned way provided that any delay would not adversely affect the welfare of children. The timescale for making improvements varies from a requirement for immediate action to a phased implementation which may extend to six months.
The Partnership 2000 expert working group on childcare, under the auspices of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, examined the provision of a co-ordinated national framework for the development of a childcare infrastructure, including the Child Care (Pre-School Services) Regulations 1996. The report of the group was launched on 3 February 1999. The Government has since established an interdepartmental committee on child care, chaired by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, to evaluate, cost and prioritise the proposals in the report and the child care proposals in An Action Programme for the Millennium, the report of the Commission on the Family and the report of the Forum on Early Childhood Education. This committee has been asked to report within a timeframe of six months.
