Mary Whitebelieves her party colleague Brian Cowen should spend much more public money on childcare
Every morning this week, working mothers and fathers across the country will waken, wash, dress, feed and deliver their young children into a variety of childcare arrangements: mothers, grannies, childminders, community or privately run creches.
Parents wrestle every day with the joys and costs of having a family - increasingly, two incomes are necessary to support the mortgage and the children. Childcare that is convenient, affordable, flexible and reliable is consequently a key demand.
Childcare is an issue that affects parents today more than any previous generation as a result of the increase in the number of women in the workforce. Almost 60 per cent of women in the Republic work. In addition, the number of births is increasing - the largest age group in the Republic is between 19 and 28, and many of these are likely to start families over the next decade.
Many women face the triple challenge of holding a job, rearing their children and providing the greater part of domestic work (on average in EU countries, women take responsibility for 80 per cent of household and child-rearing tasks).
Childcare has forced itself on to the political agenda in no uncertain terms. The first significant response by the Government was in the budget of last December, when Brian Cowen announced a National Childcare Strategy 2006-2010.
This recognised that the children's allowance was not an adequate contribution to childcare costs and introduced the Early Childcare Supplement of €1,000 for each child under the age of six years.
Recently, I published an update of my policy document, A New Approach to Childcare, with proposals for the Minister when he stands up in the Dáil tomorrow to deliver the Budget. Here are some of these proposals:
The Government should continue to extend paid and unpaid maternity leave in the interest of the early development of the child. Paternity leave should be available to fathers in the first year of a child's life. As a start, fathers should be allowed two months unpaid leave.
The Early Childcare Supplement should be increased incrementally, commencing in 2007 with an increase from €1,000 to €1,250, so that by 2009 the childcare supplement and children's allowance combined would comprise one-third of private-sector childcare costs.
The childminding relief measure should be amended so that informal childminders may earn up to €10,000 tax-free, with only income above that subject to tax.
The pressures on parents of school-age children have been neglected. The number of childcare places funded under the national investment programme should be doubled from 1,000 to 2,000 places a year. A new childcare supplement should be introduced for children aged 6-12 years, at a rate of 60 per cent of the Early Childcare Supplement, which is equal to €600 this year.
Facilities should be provided in schools from 8am to 6pm to engage children in activities outside the school curriculum. Private operators could provide these services.
There are an estimated 400,000 non-Irish nationals living in Ireland. They need equal access to employment and opportunity. This involves quality, accessible childcare for those who have brought young children to Ireland. The childcare training initiative should train childcare workers in assisting children of non-Irish nationals to integrate fully into Irish life.
• Mary Whiteis a Fianna Fáil Senator and is her party's spokeswoman in the Seanad on trade and commerce; she is also a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on finance and public service