I propose to take Questions Nos. 309 and 310 together.
My Department has responsibility for the delivery of the equal opportunities child care programme which aims to expand the availability of child care places to support the child care needs of parents who are in employment, education and training. My Department is not involved in the direct delivery of child care services, which in Ireland is done by a mix of community based and private providers of centre based services and by childminders. As a result, no data are systematically gathered on the percentages and numbers of children in the zero to two age group who are cared for in crèches, or in the three to four age group who are in receipt of pre-school education.
Nevertheless, the Central Statistics Office, CSO, quarterly national household survey on child care usage which was published in mid 2003 does provide some data which may be of interest to the Deputy. In the September to November 2002 period, when the survey was undertaken, it was estimated that 36,700 pre-school children availed of child care in the crèche-Montessori category, with a further 6,100 primary children using the category crèche-Montessori. In that survey, the CSO grouped a number of child care services under the category crèche or Montessori, namely, crèche, naíonra, nursery, Montessori school, playgroup, pre-school, and sessional child care.