Vol. 536 No. 2
390 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the outcome of an appeal against a decision not to allocate a grant for child care facilities for a community crèche (details supplied) in County Limerick. [13677/01]
An application for a staffing grant was received by my Department's equal opportunities child care section in December 2000 from the community crèche in County Limerick to which the Deputy refers. Following a technical assessment carried out by Area Development Management Limited, based on information available at the time, this funding application was considered by the programme appraisal committee. The appraisal committee did not recommend funding of the project.
As the Deputy may be aware, the assessment criteria for my Department's equal opportunities child care programme include the extent to which the child care service will enhance child care provision in disadvantaged areas, the extent to which the project will maintain or increase the number of places and the extent to which the service will facilitate parents in accessing training, education and employment opportunities.
In replying to the group informing it of the decision on its application for funding, I indicated that an official of ADM Limited would contact it to discuss the application further. Following these consultations, an appeal against the decision was received from the crèche in question in early April 2001. An assessment of this appeal was carried out by ADM Limited before being recently considered by the appraisal committee. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that on 9 May 2001 I approved funding to the community crèche in question of £15,000 for one year. Further funding for the community crèche will be subject to a review of progress after one year. I have been informed that officials from my Department's equal opportunities child care section have been in touch with the community crèche regarding my decision.
