IRELAND should be spending at least 1 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on childcare provision by 2006, according to a report published by the European Commission Network on Childcare yesterday.
The report, "Quality Targets in Services for Young People", details 40 targets which should be implemented by all EU member states. These include spending on services, pupil teacher ratios, and health care.
The Irish member of the network, Dr Anne McKenna, said the report interpreted EU Council recommendations on childcare which were likely to be binding before 2000.
She said good quality childcare might not appear as urgent as child protection measures, such as tackling school drop out rates, homelessness and drug abuse among young people, "but in a sense such services are more important. Most workers in childcare services are familiar with the research findings, which showed that £1 spent on child care services saved the state £11 later in combating school drop out, crime and other socially deviant behaviour", she argued.
Childcare services were primarily aimed at providing a developmental environment for children, appropriate to their age and stage of development and commensurate with their rights as citizens.
"Quality childcare services always bring about measurable improvements in children's development. However, they do much more than this and should not be regarded as having a one off result," she said.
This view was echoed by the Minister of State responsible for childcare, Mr Austin Currie. A high standard of pre school education could play an important part in offsetting the effects of social disadvantage and in preventing educational disadvantage, he said.
The Minister said the underlying theme of the report was the promotion of equal access to good quality pre school services. Its authors were not attempting to prescribe universal standards or systems across Europe.
He said that regulations under the Child Care Act will provide, for the first time, a statutory system for the supervision and inspection of preschool services.