I welcome my friend and colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy Callely, to the House. I declare an interest in that I am chairman of the County Leitrim child care committee with which I am proud to be associated since it was statutorily set up. I am also the parent of a special needs child and consequently would have a wider agenda in terms of the provision of child care facilities. I am pleased to say the Department has substantially funded and supported, from its inception, the provision of a state-of-the-art child care facility in Drumshanbo, County Leitrim, my home town, at a cost in excess of €1 million. The facility is progressing satisfactorily with in excess of 100 children being catered for throughout the day from pre-school through to after-school service in one part of the building, while a special needs class operates under the "childhood days" banner in other part of the building.
The facility, which is based on a voluntary organisation is run voluntarily and, therefore, the prices for child care facilities reflect its voluntary nature, although run on a professional basis. The centre is in the process of applying for a further €750,000 for a proposed extension. This is a reflection of the wider demand across the country that a small town with some 1,300 people on the register is able to cater for that number of children in its catchment area and also has a waiting list.
A study was carried out on behalf of counties Leitrim, Sligo and Donegal child care committees to establish benchmarking for childminders which is a growing part of child care provision. Under the equal opportunities childcare programme the Department is actively encouraging more qualified childminders to take on this role. In Leitrim, which has a dispersed population as has Donegal and parts of Sligo, childminding initiatives are vital for the provision of a first class standardised child care service.
In the context of the study visit, certain recommendations were brought forward which I passed on to the Department to help it formulate a response. It recommended that formal networks be established in the north west similar to those in the UK which are nationally recognised. The following measures need to be taken. There is a need for a national registration of all child minders irrespective of the number of children they mind. Implementation of this recommendation would streamline the child minding sector as there would be no difference between a notified or non-notified child minder. National registration for all childminders would also be an enticement for the childminder to operate within the formal economy. A national quality standard needs to be established in this area. It is recommended that one Department take on an inspectorate role with a separate brief for childminders, as distinct from the provision of child care facilities. Criminal record checks for all adults over 16 years of age who reside in the home where a child care service is carried out have obvious benefits. A tax credit for parents who use registered child minders as an incentive for parents to use quality child care should form part of the Government's approach to encouraging more people to take on a childminding role in their homes. The training structures which are in operation should be revised to offer accredited progression paths for child minders to tie in with the FETAC accreditation in child care at level 3. Level 3 is the optimum at which childminders operate.
I pay tribute to the County Leitrim partnership, in association with my child care committee, which continues to organise courses for those wishing to enter the childminder and child care field by providing FETAC awards at levels 1, 2 and 3. This will apply to childminders who are the managers of home-based child care services. It is suggested that implementation of these measures would professionalise home-based child care. Formal networks can provide monitored quality tailored to local needs. They can be seen as a progression in networking which is a further option for quality improvement.
It is also recommended that the establishment of one-stop-shops for children would further support quality child care and that membership of the NICMA by Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo child care committees as a quality partner would enable them to receive regular newsletters and information about childminding in the UK, which is the benchmark. The report on which these recommendations were based has been passed on to Childminding Ireland to assist its strategic work on policy development within the child minding sector and to explore further ideas for 2006. I hope these recommendations, which form part of the study visit and which were financed by the three child care committees in question, would help in the further development of child care facilities and childminding in Ireland which, as the Minister of State is aware, is the single biggest issue facing parents across the country, alongside the delivery of other services.
Since the establishment of the equal opportunities childcare programme in 1997, significant amounts of money have been provided for child minding. There is also the recent promise of Exchequer funding which means we will not have to wait for what is coming from Europe. I would like to think the future for the expansion of child care and childminding facilities in Ireland is rosy. I look forward to the Minister of State's reply.