Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 30 Jan 2002

Vol. 547 No. 1

Written Answers. - Child Care Services.

Seán Haughey

Ceist:

927 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the measures being taken to improve the position of married women working full-time in the home rearing children; his plans in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1344/02]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

The role of my Department in relation to child care relates to services provided by third parties to parents for the care of their children. The findings of a survey conducted in 1998 by the ESRI on behalf of the Commission on the Family indicate that one in five households with children aged four years or less use the services of a crèche-nursery and that in almost half of these households the mother worked full-time in the home, suggesting a desire on the part of those mothers working full-time in the home for their children to participate in pre-school services. My Department has been supporting the development of child care provision, including pre-school services, since 1994 from a social inclusion and equal opportunities perspective. The Government identified child care as a priority area for investment in the National Development Plan, 2000-2006, which provides 317 million, £250 million, to the equal opportunities childcare programme of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Additional funding of 119 million, £94 million, has also been made available to my Department through Exchequer child care measures. This brings the total child care funding available from my Department, for the period 2000-2006, to 437 million, £344 million.

The Employment Equality Act, 1998, prohibits discrimination in relation to employment, including access to employment, on nine grounds, namely, gender, marital status, family status, sexual orientation, religious belief, age, disability, race and membership of the Traveller community. The Act should facilitate women who give up their employment to care for their children full-time in the home and who wish, at a later stage, to return to paid employment.

Funding provided in the national development plan for my Department for positive action for women includes an element for projects which assist women returning to the labour force after long absences rearing their children. These initiatives are complemented by policies developed by my colleagues, the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs.

The home carer's tax allowance, now a tax credit, was introduced in the Finance Act, 2000, in respect of those spouses of married one income families, jointly assessed, who work in the home caring for certain dependent persons including children. The maximum home carer's tax credit due for the tax year 2002-03 is 770.

The Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs is committed to continuing to provide the mechanisms to allow women who take time out for family reasons to continue social insurance contributions for pension purposes. The review of the qualifying conditions for old age contributory and retirement pension is examining the difficulties encountered by women in sustaining a social insurance record through a review of the homemakers scheme. Qualifying conditions have been eased to the extent that people with interrupted-reduced insurance records can qualify for pensions. A significant number of women have benefited from these measures.

Child benefit increases announced in the recent budget will benefit all women irrespective of whether they are working in the home or otherwise. The increases in child benefit are as follows:

Number of children	Present monthlyrate	New monthlyrate
1 child	85.80	117.60
2 children	171.60	235.20
3 children	280.80	382.50
4 children	390.00	529.80
5 children	499.20	677.10
6 children	608.40	824.40
7 children	717.60	971.70
8 children	826.80	1,119.00

These rates are effective from April 2002.

As the Deputy is no doubt aware, I introduced legislation to increase the periods of maternity leave attracting payment from 14 weeks to 18 weeks and unpaid maternity leave from four weeks to eight weeks, for mothers commencing maternity leave or unpaid maternity leave on or after 8 March 2001. These increases were on foot of the report of the working group on the review and Improvement of the maternity protection legislation which I published on 28 February 2001. In the interests of equity, the period of adoptive leave attracting payment was also increased from ten weeks to 14 weeks and unpaid adoptive leave from four weeks to eight weeks. The Government also agreed to apply the recommendations of the working group to adoptive leave legislation where appropriate. These increases in leave and other recommendations of the working group will significantly improve conditions for mothers who wish to remain full-time at home with new born babies.

The Parental Leave Act 1998, provides an individual and untransferable entitlement to both parents to 14 weeks unpaid leave from work to take care of young children. The leave must be taken before the child reaches five years of age, except in certain circumstances in the case of an adopted child. This legislation facilitates both parents to dedicate a short period to the full-time care of young children. In accordance with a commitment under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, I announced the commencement of the review of the Parental Leave Act 1998, on 28 February, 2001. A working group comprising the social partners, relevant Government Departments and the Equality Authority was established to carry out the review. The group concluded the review of the Act on 29 November 2001 and a report will be published early in 2002.

My Department allocated a grant of 7,618, £6,000, in 2001 to the organisation Women in the Home for development activities. In addition, funding was provided in 2000 towards the attendance of a representative of Women in the Home at the UN General Assembly Special Session Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the 21st Century (Beijing +5). Women In The Home has also received funding of 1,904, £1,500, from my Department under the national plan for women, 2001-05, consultation process grants scheme. The aims of women in the home are to provide support and a forum for women working in the home through which they can have a voice and influence society.

The draft national plan for women, 2001-05, was launched by the Minister of State with responsibility for Equality, Deputy Mary Wallace, on 16 October 2001. This publication is designed to guide and inform the consultation process which is now under way.

The consultation process will be as comprehensive and wide-ranging as possible. It is intended that all relevant interests will be consulted including: women's groups; other non-governmental organisations, NGOs; the social partners; other stakeholders; women generally; government departments; other statutory bodies. The consultation process has the following objectives: it will inform women of Government commitments under the 12 critical areas of concern of the UN Platform for Action and Beijing Declaration, 1995; it will assemble proposals on the ways and means of measuring progress on the advancement of all women; and it will articulate a vision of how these proposals might be addressed in the future.

Grants totalling 277,729 have issued to over 200 organisations to facilitate them in making submissions on the draft plan. The closing date for receipt of submissions is 15 February 2002. The consultation process will culminate in a number of public fora spread throughout the country in spring 2002. It is hoped to submit the draft final plan to Government for approval and publication as soon as possible thereafter.

The Government attaches great importance to the development of the national plan for women. In developing the plan, the Government is determined to ensure that the opportunity exists for the full participation of women in the social, economic and political life of the country. The plan will give the Government the opportunity to consolidate its commitments in relation to women's issues over the past four and a half years, and to make further progress in achieving gender equality for all women in Irish society. The national plan for women will enable the Government to work, in partnership, to develop and implement a meaningful vision for the future rooted in women's actual concerns and aspirations. The consultation process will provide an opportunity for women working full-time in the home to contribute to the development of the national plan for women.