The Report on The National Forum for Early Childhood Education to the Minister for Education and Science, Mr Martin (1998):
This report argues that for the 305,557 children under the age of six (1996 figures), "the early years of child development are of crucial importance". It calls for a "seachange" in attitudes to early childhood education, arguing that for every £1,000 invested in a child, £4,000 is saved on special education in later years. It also criticises the Childcare Act, 1991, for focusing only on physical safety, without addressing quality of care.
The report has been criticised for recommending the division of early childhood education into two groups, under-threes and three-to-sixes - the first group to come under the Department of Health and the second under the Department of Education. "This would create even more fragmentation in services which are already fragmented - whose main problem is, in fact, fragmentation," comments the NCNA's Martina Murphy.
"Every Government department is reluctant to get involved in childcare," says Jenny Bernard, a member of the Expert Working Group, "but we need the expertise of the Department of Education in helping us to make the most of children's early years."
STRENGTHENING Families for Life: Final report to the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs by the Commission on the Family (May, 1998):
The commission recommends three options for financially supporting the families of children under the age of three: Option A - parent allowance of £30 a week to be paid directly to the parent who works full-time in the home, in recognition of the value of unpaid work (at a cost of £228 million a year); Option B - a PRSI-funded extended period of parental leave of up to three years (£255 million a year). Option C - a special rate of child benefit of £30 for each child under three irrespective of parents' employment status, to be used to support the family budget in families where one parent remains in the home full-time, and to subsidise childcare in families where parents are in the workplace (£173 million a year).
NATIONAL Childcare Strategy: Report of the Partnership 2000 Expert Working Group on Childcare (January, 1999):
This report favours tax relief, rather than increased child benefit. "The disadvantage of child benefit as a means of subsidising childcare is that it is expensive and, as it is not targeted on childcare, is not guaranteed to increase the provision of childcare policies or to improve the quality of childcare without a parallel investment in the supply side of childcare.
"For this reason, the Expert Working Group did not recommend the use of child benefit as the way forward towards affordable and accessible quality childcare. If cost was not a prohibitive factor, then the way forward would be increased child benefit as a demand side subsidy, together with investment to improve quality and quantity of supply." The strategy recommends a tax-relief measure at the standard rate which would grant relief on receipted childcare expenses of up to £4,000 for each child, each year, to all family units which use childcare in respect of children aged under 12; allowances in respect of each child, with the allowance for the first child under five years at £4,000 a year, and subsequent children at £3,200; allowances for children of five and over at £2,000 a year. This would cost the State £30 million annually.
