Written Answers Nos. 323-330
323. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if the conditions of St. John of God Community Services’ service agreement since 2021 have been met; if they continue to be met; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3422/24]
View answerAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
The Deputy will be aware that due to the ongoing industrial action by Fórsa administrative and management grade staff in the HSE (which commenced on 6 October, 2023), delays remain in receiving answers to parliamentary questions and ministerial representations.
The HSE has been engaged with Fórsa through the auspices of the WRC in an effort to resolve the dispute but a resolution has not been reached as of yet.
324. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the funding for St. John of God Community Services in each year since 2019; the breakdown of funding per service provided by the service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3423/24]
View answerAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
The Deputy will be aware that due to the ongoing industrial action by FORSA administrative and management grade staff in the HSE (which commenced on 6 October, 2023), delays remain in receiving answers to parliamentary questions and ministerial representations.
The HSE has been engaged with Fórsa through the auspices of the WRC in an effort to resolve the dispute but a resolution has not been reached as of yet.
325. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the total number of children availing of his Department’s funding programmes (details supplied) in 2022, 2023, in tabular form. [3432/24]
View answerThe table below shows the number of unique children by and across programmes that benefitted from my Department's funded schemes in the 2022 and 2023 calendar years, along with the number of unique children across the both years.
|
Programme |
Unique children 2022 |
Unique children 2023 |
Total unique children – 2022 and 2023 |
|
CCSP Saver Programme |
7,387 |
3,526 |
7,387 |
|
ECCE |
167,067 |
165,211 |
226,237 |
|
NCS |
123,932 |
182,776 |
196,606 |
|
All programmes |
246,827 |
278,221 |
331,455 |
It should be noted that:
The total number of unique children availing of CCSP over 2022 and 2023 is identical, as the CCSP scheme is a legacy scheme and as such has been closed to new applicants since the introduction of NCS in 2019.
The TEC programme closed to new applicants in 2020, final legacy payments concluded in 2022 and the programme has now expired.
326. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated number of childcare services that have signed core funding contracts; the total number who signed up for core funding and subsequently withdrew; the years they withdrew; and the estimated number of children that are not covered by NCS, in tabular form. [3433/24]
View answerCore Funding is in operation since 15 September 2022 and has achieved very significant success in terms of the high levels of participation. With 95% participation of eligible services in year 1 and to date, 94% or over 4,300 providers have signed up for Core Funding Year 2, with applications still open. There are officially more services contracted for Core Funding year 2 than there were at the peak of Core Funding year 1.
Core Funding year 1 had 4274 contracted services in Core Funding. 1 service withdrew from Core Funding in year 1, however that service has an activated contract in Core Funding year 2.
To date, 4374 services have contracted to Core Funding year 2. 3 services withdrew from year 2.
Participation in Core Funding is optional but it remains open to all registered providers subject to their agreement to the terms and conditions of the funding.
Budget 2024 allocated additional funding for Core Funding. This increase on the 2023 allocation will support continued implementation of the scheme for the second programme year (September 2023 to August 2024) and into the third programme year from September 2024. In year 3 of the scheme, the value of Core Funding will increase by 15% or €44m to €331m.
Special supports are available from my Department where a service is experiencing financial difficulty or has concerns about their viability, accessed through local City or County Childcare Committee (CCC). This support can take the form of assisting services with interpreting analysis of staff ratios and cash flow, as well as more specialised advice and support appropriate to individual circumstances.
I would encourage any service experiencing financial difficulty and who would like support to contact their City/County Childcare Committee (CCC) to access case management supports.
My Department and Pobal, the Scheme Administrator only hold individual information on children registered for early learning and childcare subsidy schemes (mainly NCS and ECCE). Neither DCEDIY or Pobal hold information on children who are not registered for NCS or ECCE, or who avail of a service not offering NCS or ECCE.
In addition, it should be noted that whilst some services only provide ECCE, most full-day services also provide ECCE only options. It would be not be possible from available data to differentiate between parents opting to only use ECCE hours and parents who pay entirely privately for extra hours.
327. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of children by county/ nationally that are not covered by his Department’s NCS subsidy excluding ECCE services. [3434/24]
View answerI am committed to the ongoing success of the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) which continues to benefit increasing numbers of families across Ireland. Uptake of NCS subsidies has grown yearly with 182,776 children benefitting from the Scheme in 2023. This represents an increase of 48% on 2022. I envisage further growth in 2024.
This growth is driven, in part, by recent changes introduced to the Scheme including the extension of age eligibility for universal subsidies and increases to the minimum hourly subsidy. The minimum hourly subsidy rate is set to increase again in September 2024 from €1.40 to €2.15 – further benefitting families across the State who avail of the Scheme.
My Department and Pobal, the Scheme Administrator only hold individual information on children registered for early learning and childcare subsidy schemes (mainly NCS and ECCE). Neither DCEDIY or Pobal hold information on children who are not registered for NCS or ECCE, or who avail of a service not offering NCS or ECCE.
In addition, it should be noted that whilst some services only provide ECCE, most full-day services also provide ECCE only options. It would be not be possible from available data to differentiate between parents opting to only use ECCE hours and parents who pay entirely privately for extra hours.
328. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the lowest, highest and average, geographically of fees actually currently being paid by parents in 2023/2024. [3435/24]
View answerThe Pobal Annual Early Years Sector Profile (AEYSP) provides a detailed overview of the Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC) sector in Ireland, including the numbers of children in receipt of state subsidies, information on ELC and SAC fees, staff wages, qualifications and turnover.
In December 2023 the Department launched the Early Learning and Childcare Data website, replacing the traditional paper-based AEYSP report. The website provides a new and innovative way of displaying administrative data as well as survey data collected annually from over 4,400 early learning and childcare services across the country, supporting evidence-informed policy development and planning.
This new website will include a series of interactive dashboards that will be released by Pobal on behalf of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) over the coming weeks and months.
Released sequentially, the first iteration of this new dashboard will see the 2021/22 data published alongside the 2022/23 data. As the dashboard is still under development the ‘Service Overview’ section is currently available with more information including in relation to fees, being made available in the coming weeks.
In 2020/21, which provides the most recently published Pobal Annual Early Years Sector Profile data, the average weekly fee nationally per child for full day care was €186.84, for part-time was €110.92 and for sessional care was €74.20. The fees for all types of provision remained almost the same, with less than 0.5% change for all types of care compared to 2019/20. It should be noted that this fee data is prior to the application of any subsidies.
Table 1: Average weekly fee by county and type of care provision
(full day, part-time and sessional)
|
County |
Full day |
Part-time |
Sessional |
|
Dublin – Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown |
€244.08 |
€139.10 |
€84.71 |
|
Dublin – Fingal |
€214.30 |
€121.96 |
€76.81 |
|
Dublin – South Dublin |
€214.08 |
€127.90 |
€78.69 |
|
Dublin – Dublin City |
€213.85 |
€127.16 |
€78.60 |
|
Wicklow |
€213.36 |
€126.92 |
€77.65 |
|
Cork City |
€204.36 |
€113.73 |
€76.58 |
|
Cork County |
€193.53 |
€118.22 |
€77.15 |
|
Kildare |
€191.68 |
€120.02 |
€77.78 |
|
Meath |
€191.52 |
€112.35 |
€73.87 |
|
Westmeath |
€181.83 |
€107.48 |
€79.32 |
|
Kerry |
€181.01 |
€103.43 |
€67.01 |
|
Kilkenny |
€179.66 |
€103.86 |
€71.81 |
|
Louth |
€178.37 |
€117.06 |
€73.30 |
|
Wexford |
€177.69 |
€103.99 |
€73.85 |
|
Waterford |
€175.61 |
€101.27 |
€71.30 |
|
Limerick |
€175.48 |
€103.54 |
€72.52 |
|
Laois |
€174.89 |
€100.88 |
€73.62 |
|
Donegal |
€174.24 |
€95.35 |
€68.25 |
|
Galway |
€173.56 |
€105.61 |
€70.97 |
|
Offaly |
€173.33 |
€112.98 |
€71.81 |
|
Clare |
€172.00 |
€102.13 |
€72.20 |
|
Tipperary |
€166.71 |
€99.25 |
€71.68 |
|
Sligo |
€165.64 |
€97.02 |
€78.20 |
|
Leitrim |
€163.81 |
€89.58 |
€69.85 |
|
Roscommon |
€161.94 |
€99.36 |
€72.13 |
|
Cavan |
€160.88 |
€95.39 |
€69.21 |
|
Mayo |
€160.68 |
€95.02 |
€69.28 |
|
Longford |
€159.17 |
€92.92 |
€71.65 |
|
Monaghan |
€153.42 |
€87.76 |
€65.52 |
|
Carlow |
€152.08 |
€88.36 |
€71.27 |
|
Overall average |
€186.84 |
€110.92 |
€74.20 |
The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides two types of subsidies available to all children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years who are attending registered childcare:
• a universal subsidy of €1.40 per hour
• an income assessed subsidy which is means tested and is calculated based on the applicant’s individual circumstances. The subsidy varies depending on the level of family income, parent work status, the child’s age and educational stage, and the number of children in a family
All families accessing registered early learning and childcare receive a minimum hourly NCS subsidy of €1.40. This minimum hourly rate will increase to €2.14 from September of this year. From this date, any family on the universal or income assessed subsidy who was not already at the maximum hourly rate under the Scheme will see an increase in their subsidy. For those who receive an income assessed subsidy, the amount of the increase will taper down as they approach the maximum hourly rate. The exact reduction in costs will be unique to each family depending on their individual circumstances, and their early learning and childcare needs.
The Scheme has an hours based design and is designed to fit around the needs of families. The family agrees the number of hours to be used with their provider and (within overall scheme limits) these hours are registered with the scheme administrator. The amount paid under the NCS is based on the actual hours of childcare used.
The standard weekly ECCE capitation is €69.00 for the 2023/2024 programme year. Where a child is availing of additional care in a part-time or full-time service the approved provider must reduce the fees paid by the parent/guardian by a minimum of €64.50.
329. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will provide an update on the 12 month review of the ECCE programme that was due to be finalised in Q4 2023; whether, under this review, consideration was given to allowing multiple entry points to the ECCE scheme as was previously the case, as opposed to the current system of a single entry point; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3447/24]
View answerThe Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme is a universal two year pre-school programme available to all children within the eligible age range of 2 years and 8 months to 5 years and 6 months. A child must have reached 2 years and 8 months of age on or prior to 31 August of the relevant programme year to be eligible.
Any change to the design features of the ECCE programme such as the entry points to the scheme or age requirements require a thorough review of the evidence available and consultation with the children, parents and preschool providers affected by this proposed change.
As mentioned by the Deputy, I have appointed Stranmillis University College, Belfast to undertake an independent review of the ECCE programme.
The review is assessing whether the ECCE Programme is meeting its core objectives and will identify any changes or improvements that can be made to the Programme, based on international evidence and experience to date. The ECCE age requirements are being evaluated as part of this review, the ultimate decision as to whether the age requirements should change will be informed by consultation with parents, international experts and ELC professionals.
The final report of the review is nearly complete, once it has been finalised I will consider the review in it’s entirety and consider any policy changes that may need to be made to the programme.
330. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth about the devolution of legislative responsibility for the assessment of children with addition needs to schools; to what extent his Department was involved in this policy measure; what work his Department did to ensure that the rights of the child are upheld; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3475/24]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, the Disability Act 2005 predates the transfer of functions for specialist disability services which transferred from the Department of Health to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in March 2023.
My Department is aware of the recent High Court judgment in relation to the HSE (as respondent) and the NCSE (as notice party). The test cases concerned the method by which education assessments are carried out and fed into assessment reports. Such reports are required by the Disability Act 2005 to set both the health needs and also the education needs of applicants).
Following the conclusion of the above process and the circulation of the judgment, my Department has engaged with both the HSE and the Department of Education in order to examine, on a co-ordianated and structured basis, the outcome of the judgment, the impact it may have and the means by which matters can be progressed to ensure that the rights of children and their families are upheld.
It is my understanding that both the HSE and the Department of Education are awaiting detailed legal advices on the matter and, following receipt of same, it is intended that all relevant parties will meet to progress matters..
