The State cannot discriminate between stay-at-home parents and those in the workforce on childcare measures, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told the Dáil. "It would be putting one against the other and that would be the wrong thing to do," he said.
Defending the Government's action on childcare he said there had been a huge increase in child benefit from €38 to €141. This approach was taken as the "best way of making progress" on childcare because there was "total disagreement" between the main organisations.
An interdepartmental group was examining the issue and had finalised seven basic proposals, of which it recommended that "one or two" should be pursued.
The Taoiseach warned however that the problem "cannot be totally resolved in one go" and he pointed out that the number of working mothers had doubled from 400,000 to 800,000 in a decade.
He was responding to Labour leader Pat Rabbitte who highlighted a survey by the Irish Examiner, in which just one in 10 parents believed that childcare was affordable and 84 per cent believed the Government had failed to address the issue.
Mr Rabbitte said that the average cost of keeping a child in a creche was €724 and many people were spending more on childcare than on their mortgage. "This is a fundamental aspect of the debate about the nature of family life and society." Childcare was "one of the biggest issues faced by society and many of the electorate. Given the amount of taxes people are paying and the extent of the Government's budget surplus, the electorate wants to know the nature of the Government's response".
He asked if the Taoiseach intended to grant equal treatment to stay-at-home spouses as there were for people at work. Deputy Rabbitte also asked if the Government planned to take action on childcare like that suggested in a Labour Party document on the issue.
Mr Ahern said in reply that Labour's document was "almost word perfect" in its similarity to an NESC report. The Taoiseach accepted that childcare was still a big issue that needed to be dealt with and that "some people are paying as much, if not more, on childcare as on their mortgages", but he did not believe the problem could be solved in one go. He pointed out that some 220,000 had childcare needs and a network of community non-profit creches was now in place, currently catering for 26,000 children but with a maximum capacity of 39,000.
"I agree with whatever helps a person to pursue his or her career in a proper way," said Mr Ahern and pointed out that his department operated a number of initiatives to "support the needs of a diverse workforce".
