School buildings are to be used to provide thousands of childcare places for children of school-going age under a new Government initiative.
Minister for Children Brendan Smith said talks with the Department of Education and the boards of management of schools will begin as part of a drive to provide between 5,000 and 10,000 new school-age childcare places.
The move is part of the Government's wider plan to provide a total of 50,000 childcare places by 2010.
It marks a shift of emphasis in the State's approach to childcare and follows the example set by a number of European countries which have been providing childcare in schools for years.
In Sweden, for example, schools and leisure centres are used to supplement schooling and help children with their development.
Mr Smith said the State's 3,000 primary and 750 secondary schools were largely underutilised.
"We don't make enough use of schools. We have very good facilities often lying idle outside of schools hours, such as sports halls . . . I don't think there would be any objection to making greater use of them," he said.
Use of school facilities is ultimately a matter for the management authorities of individual schools. Mr Smith said talks with boards of management of schools would involve practical issues such as funding and staffing.
It is likely that funds will be made available to parents and community groups who wish to set up after-school childcare services in schools with trained staff.
A number of schools in poorer areas have had school-age childcare programmes for some time, with activities such as breakfast clubs and homework clubs taking place outside school hours.
The idea of rolling out this kind of activity-based childcare on a wider level was first suggested in Ireland by the Progressive Democrats two years ago, but has since been embraced by all the major political parties.
Mr Smith also signalled that the Government's approach of providing parents with financial support - such as child benefit and the early childcare supplement - to help them choose the model of childcare that suits them best will continue. While he said pledges by other political parties such as Labour to provide a year's free pre-school for all children appeared attractive, much work remained to be done in ensuring there were enough facilities and trained staff to meet the demand for childcare.
Mr Smith said the "equitable distribution of resources" to parents was the best course of action. A total of €575 million is being spent between 2006 and 2010 on improving the childcare infrastructure in the Republic.
The Government is also working on plans for a new recreation policy for children, in which the provision of youth cafes for teenagers will form a central part. Surveys show a lack of recreational facilities is one of the biggest issues affecting teenagers and may be linked to risk-taking behaviour such as binge drinking and drug-taking.
Youth cafes have proved to be highly successful in providing a safe recreational space. A number have already been established, such as the Gaf cafe on Galway's Francis Street, which provides teenagers with a place to socialise, get involved in activities such as DJ training and photography, and access such services as sexual health programmes.
A survey of 1,000 teenagers commissioned by the Office of the Minister for Children last year found lack of facilities and money to be the main barriers to teenagers getting involved in recreational activities.
When it came to the actual type of recreational facility, the most requested was a place to socialise with friends that was safe, indoors and affordable, and where the teenagers had a sense of ownership.
