Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 October 2004
231 Mr. Kenny asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when a decision will be made on an application for a club (details supplied) in County Mayo in respect of grant assistance for crèche development under the child care capital programme; if this application has been assessed; if funding will be made available towards this application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23935/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraI understand that a capital grant application for more than €717, 000 was submitted by the group to my Department in December 2003. The Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000 — 2006 is a seven-year development programme which aims to increase the availability and quality of child care to support parents in employment, education and training. The progress of the programme was commented upon very favourably by the mid-term evaluators of both the regional operational programmes and the National Development Plan 2000-2006 and following the mid-term review additional funding of approximately €12 million was made available for the child care measures. This brings the total funding available for the programme to €449.3 million.
There has been considerable demand from community-based groups for capital grant assistance under the programme and every county has benefited significantly from grants to provide new and enhanced community-based child care facilities and to support capital developments in the private child care sector. ADM, on behalf of my Department, is carrying out an extensive review of the programme's capital commitments to date, which number more than 1,100 at a value of €114 million, to ensure that all the grant commitments previously entered into will be realised.
Projects may be awaiting planning permission or the completion of tender processes before reasonable assurance can be taken that they will proceed and, if they do not, the funding set aside can be decommitted and made available to another project. Expenditure under the programme covers the period to end 2007 and must take place in a planned manner as must grant approvals to ensure that the programme can meet its financial commitments at all times.
In addition, my Department has recently reviewed the different budget lines under the EOCP including the capital programme to ensure that the most effective use is made of all remaining funding in accordance with the programme's objectives and this has brought to €157 million the total allocation for the capital development of child care under the present programme. At the same time, an extensive review of child care provision on the ground has taken place to identify obvious service gaps, the filling of which will be a priority using the remaining capital funding which currently exceeds €30 million, of which approximately €25 million is being earmarked for community-based not-for-profit child care groups, which provide services for young children to support their parents, who may be in employment, education and training.
I intend to allocate the remaining capital funding under this strand of the Government's commitment to child care to address the most immediate service gaps. As a result, all the projects in the pipeline on 30 April 2004 have been reviewed again by ADM Limited on the basis of geographical need, the range of services being offered, value for money and the capacity of the groups to complete a project before the end of the programme in 2007. Those projects which best meet the criteria will receive priority funding from the capital funding that remains unallocated at this point.
I have made inquiries and I understand that the application for capital grant assistance in respect of this project has been reviewed as part of the review process to which I have just referred. I understand that the recommendations on to the allocation of the remaining funding are in preparation. If a project is recommended for funding as part of this process, its recommendation will be conditional upon its being able to establish that it can be completed within a fixed budget and a tight time frame. If a project is not recommended for priority funding at this time, it may be considered again should additional capital resources become available and if the project has adequately demonstrated that it would merit funding under the programme during the review process. The allocation of any additional funding, which might come available to me, will also be allocated on the basis of local need, levels of service being offered and value for money.
I do not doubt but that the success of the present strand of the programme and the need to continue to make child care available to support the child care needs of our still growing work force will support my case for ongoing capital and current funding from Government for this key sector. Indeed, should any additional funding become available before the end of the present national development plan, I would expect that the programme would again benefit from transfers. In the interim, it would be premature of me to comment further on this capital grant application.
232 Mr. Murphy asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the way in which the grant aid available to the crèches in Boherbue, County Cork and the crèche in Millstreet, County Cork is dealt with; if an application for further funding has been received; his views on the crisis in funding that has closed the crèche temporarily in Ballydesmond, Mallow, County Cork; if there are outstanding applications for funding; and his views on whether the funding is adequate, considering that other crèches are closing or in financial crisis due to the inadequacy of current funding. [23936/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy may be aware, applications for funding are assessed under the criteria of the equal opportunities child care programme and, following a recommendation made to me by the programme appraisal committee, I issue a decision on these applications for funding.
Millstreet Community Council was awarded capital and staffing funding under the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-2006 in 2001. I understand this group may have suspended some elements of its child care services recently and the group is currently having discussions with Area Development Management Limited, which manages the day-to-day operation of the equal opportunities child care programme on behalf of my Department. I understand the issue of ongoing staffing grant assistance for this group is also under consideration at present.
A crèche, Tír na nÓg, in Ballydesmond was awarded capital funding of €1 million in 2002 and total staffing funding of €235,000 over three years. I have made inquiries and am told that this crèche has not been temporarily closed.
As the Deputy may already be aware, I approved a grant for Boherbue Educare Centre Limited of €90,000 towards staffing costs in October 2003. I understand that a capital grant application for more than €1.2 million was submitted by the group to my Department in February 2003. This capital application is in the final stages of the application process and it would be premature for me to comment further at this time.
The Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-2006 is a seven-year development programme which aims to increase the availability and quality of child care to support parents in employment, education and training. The progress of the programme was commented upon very favourably by the mid-term evaluators of both the regional operational programmes and the National Development Plan 2000-2006 and following the mid-term review additional funding of approximately €12 million was made available for the child care measures. This brings the total funding available for the programme to €449.3 million. To date, Cork county and city have been awarded capital and staffing funding of more than €25 million under the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-2006.
There has been considerable demand from community based groups for capital grant assistance under the programme and every county has benefited significantly from grants to provide new and enhanced community-based child care facilities and to support capital developments in the private child care sector. ADM, on behalf of my Department, is carrying out an extensive review of the programme's capital commitments to date, which number more than 1,100 at a value of €114 million, to ensure that all the grant commitments previously entered into will be realised. Projects may be awaiting planning permission or the completion of tender processes before reasonable assurance can be taken that they will proceed and, if they do not, the funding set aside can be decommitted and made available to another project. Expenditure under the programme covers the period to end 2007 and must take place in a planned manner as must grant approvals to ensure that the programme can meet its financial commitments at all times.
In addition, my Department has recently reviewed the different budget lines under the EOCP including the capital programme to ensure that the most effective use is made of all remaining funding in accordance with the programme's objectives and this has brought to €157 million the total allocation for the capital development of child care under the present programme. At the same time, an extensive review of child care provision on the ground has taken place to identify obvious service gaps, the filling of which will be a priority using the remaining capital funding which currently exceeds €30 million, of which approximately €25 million is being earmarked for community-based not-for-profit child care groups which provide services for young children to support their parents who may be in employment, education and training.
I intend to allocate the remaining capital funding under this strand of the Government's commitment to child care to address the most immediate service gaps. As a result, all the projects in the pipeline on 30 April 2004 have been reviewed again by ADM Limited on the basis of geographical need, the range of services being offered, value for money and the capacity of the groups to complete a project before the end of the programme in 2007. Those projects which best meet the criteria will receive priority funding from the capital funding which remains unallocated at this point.
I understand that the recommendations on the allocation of the remaining funding are currently in preparation. If a project is recommended for funding as part of this process, its recommendation will be conditional upon its being able to establish that it can be completed within a fixed budget and a tight time frame.
Should a project not be recommended for priority funding at this time, it will be considered again should additional capital resources come available, if the project has adequately demonstrated that it would merit funding under the programme during the review process. The allocation of any additional capital funding which might come available to me will also be allocated on the basis of local need, levels of service being offered and value for money.
I do not doubt but that the success of the present strand of the programme and the need to continue to make child care available to support the child care needs of our still growing work force will support my case for ongoing capital funding for this key sector. Indeed, should any additional funding become available before the end of the present national development plan, I would expect that the programme would again benefit from transfers.
In the interim, it would be premature of me to comment further on any remaining grant applications in the Cork area.
