Vol. 1039 No. 3
32. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth his plans to develop effective communication with communities where accommodation for asylum seekers is to be established; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26327/23]
I want to ask the Minister about the plans he may have to develop effective communication with communities with regard to the accommodation of asylum seekers and refugees. We have seen the need for dialogue or communication with communities over the past number of weeks. What plans do the Minister and Department have for effective communication?
I thank the Deputy for the question. Since the beginning of 2022, Ireland and many other European countries have experienced a significant increase of new arrivals seeking international protection. As of 26 May, there are over 20,600 people accommodated in the international protection accommodation services, IPAS, system as a whole, compared with 11,000 people at this time last year. Combined with the arrival of over 73,000 people displaced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, this is the largest displacement of people in Europe since the Second World War. Over 64,000 of those are in State-provided accommodation.
I recognise that there are some issues with communications with communities where accommodation centres are being established and the Government is working toward addressing these issues by improving advanced communications, where appropriate, for elected representatives, local authorities and local communities.
Due to the scale of the current crisis, contracted emergency accommodation for those seeking refuge must be occupied on a faster timeline than would otherwise be the case. While efforts are made to notify public representatives and State agencies in advance of utilising a building for the accommodation of people seeking international protection, the emergency nature of the response means that advance communications are not always as early as my Department would like.
Where possible, before the opening of any facility the Department engages with local elected representatives to provide information as soon as possible following the agreement of terms with contractors. These constraints limit the time window for advance engagement. The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, my officials and I have also made significant efforts to engage with a series of community organisations when new centres are opening to provide information and to dispel any misinformation being circulated.
The Department of An Taoiseach is currently developing a communications strategy aimed at developing a national model that will support communications with communities where accommodation centres are opening. The aim of this work is to provide accurate information to communities and to work to ensure that misinformation will be corrected.
I want to be very clear. No community has the right to veto anybody living in that community. When I talk about communication, I am not referring to dialogue or negotiations; I am very much referring to communication. There has been a real failure by Government until this point to engage with communities and have proper communication. There are genuine concerns about a lack of services, whether it is public transport, GPs or children trying to get school places.
I appreciate that there is an emergency situation in terms of trying to put people under a roof in accommodation as quickly as possible. The communication failure has left a vacuum. There are some on the extreme right who have to be faced down and challenged. The vacuum has allowed them to move into that space and exploit vulnerable communities that are genuinely concerned about a lack of services. I welcome that there will be a communications strategy. We need to know when that will start to be rolled out within communities.
The Government is developing a more strategic long-term plan to deal with the allocation of accommodation in consultation with local government. Government is also developing a more systematic approach to communicate with local communities. A tender process was initiated by the Department of the Taoiseach on 25 April to seek support and advice in the development of effective public communication in response to the movement of refugees and asylum seekers into communities across the country.
This is a short-term contract for a specific phase of work and the request for tenders issued to three service providers as per procurement rules. Those invited to tender were chosen based on a broad range of experience in this type of engagement and communication work. Only one tenderer submitted a response. Q4 has been invited to tender based on its experience of working on public sector strategies such as BusConnects, which involved engagements with a broad range of stakeholders and public policy proposals which impact directly on local communities. Departments and agencies have worked collaboratively on the development of more structured adjudications and Q4 will help us to strengthen this model where necessary and build capacity for more effective communication and engagement.
We have opened 150 centres in the past year and a half. It has gone quite well. We have had dozens of engagements with communities at a variety of levels as well and we have given information as soon as we can. It has worked well in many areas.
I agree it has worked well in many areas. However, there are communities that feel they are not listened to and have past experience of commitments given by previous Governments and Ministers for services to follow, such as centres that would open up and GP and education services and teachers for when new communities come into their communities. Many of those failed to materialise. Alongside the dialogue and communication, we need a cross-departmental approach and solution. What engagement is there with other Ministers and Departments with regard to critical analysis of those other areas, whether it is education or transport, where there is a deficit? What engagement is there with other Departments and what commitment is there to put in place any of those additional needs?
I assure the Deputy there are layers of communication across all levels of Government. At the highest level, we have the Cabinet subcommittee on Ukraine. We also have a senior officials' group. At a local level, we have community response forums, which are co-ordinated at a higher level by the Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, and County and City Management Association, CCMA. I engage on a monthly basis with a series of NGO stakeholders that work on the ground and with Departments on co-ordination. We have another higher level of communication strategy coming from the Department of the Taoiseach as well. I will note some points from the tender that might be of interest. Work will be closely conducted with the team in the Department of the Taoiseach and other key stakeholders, to develop and produce a draft project plan to engage effectively with the public and key stakeholders on the movement of people who seek refuge. The plan should enable the team to share practical and timely information with communities and key stakeholders on accommodating new arrivals; assure communities and key stakeholders that Government is working together to ensure services are equipped; raise awareness of supports being added into the system and facilitate a good engagement between new arrivals and communities. We have many layers and will add more at a higher level and on the ground.
33. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of childcare providers that participated in the core funding scheme but have subsequently raised fees for services despite the commitment in the scheme not to (details supplied); if his Department has received any complaints about this practice; if any service provider has done so; if so, the penalties his Department apply to that provider; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26324/23]
I ask the Minister about the core funding model for childcare, how it is applied across all providers and the number of childcare providers that participated in this scheme, but subsequently raised their fees for services, despite the commitment in the scheme not to do so. Has the Department received any complaints about this? If so, how does the Department deal with the service providers concerned? Are there any penalties? I ask the Minister to make a statement on the matter.
More than 4,200 partner services currently participate in core funding, which represents 95% of all services in the State. These services must operate in line with the core funding partner service funding agreement. With regard to fees, partner services must uphold their contractual obligations with regard to fee management, as laid out in this agreement. In the first year - we are still in that first year - partner services must not increase the fees charged to parents from those charged in September 2021. An increased charge of any kind for an existing and unchanged service type will be in breach of core funding rules. A partner service may create a new service type, but must ensure that the fee for any new service type will be calculated as not more than a proportion of the closest equivalent fee that existed on 30 September 2021.
Where a partner service increases the level of service offered, a higher fee can be charged for this, but that fee must be in direct proportion to the increase. For example, an increase in full-day care from 40 to 50 hours per week represents an increase of 25% in the level of service. A higher fee can be charged for this but it cannot exceed 25% more than the previous fee that was charged on 30 September 2021. Similarly, an increase in weeks from a 38-week offering to a 52-week offering must be charged proportionately. Parents of children attending a partner service that have identified a potential breach with regard to fee management may seek to have this examined and a conclusion reached through the core funding fee review process.
As of 26 May, Pobal is considering five such cases. Where a determination is made of a breach with regard to fee management, a partner service must provide evidence of remedy of that breach within 30 working days. Failure to do so may result in the termination of the core funding partner service funding agreement. I encourage any parent who is concerned about fees to contact his or her local city or county childcare committee in the first instance.
I welcome the fact the Minister has tried to reduce the fees, but some of the larger providers - in the case of the parliamentary questions I have asked the Minister and in this case - such as Safari Childcare in Dublin 8, have brought in a model where they have said to parents they have to avail of the service 52 weeks per year. In other words, parents who do not normally pay for after-school care during the school holidays, because there is no school, are now being told that if they do not do so, their children's places are not secure in the next term. It strong arms the parents into paying more money for childcare. The level of childcare costs in this country is still pretty shocking, compared to the average EU country. Studies have been done which show we are, on a scale throughout the EU, the third highest. That is pretty shocking. We all know of systems and societies where they bring down the costs significantly in some places and do not have them at all in others. There needs to be more than a report-to-Pobal attitude from the Minister's Department about attempts to strong-arm parents in this manner.
If the Deputy does not mind, I will not get too involved in the specific instance she has raised, because I do not know if it is in a fee-review process through Pobal. It may well be and may be one of the cases. I do not know. However, there are processes whereby parents can flag issues and there are significant consequences for the service, such as the withdrawal of the funding agreement, which is very significant. In many cases, it would be worth thousands, if not tens of thousands, of euro to the service. A breach of the agreement is not insignificant. However, the Deputy is right in that childcare is still too expensive in our country. We have made significant steps. We have brought in the fee freeze for the first time ever. We have achieved a significant increase in the national childcare scheme, NCS, as of 1 January this year. We have increased the subsidy to parents and there has been an average of 25% reduction in their out-of-pocket costs. We will look to do more in next year's budget because even though we have taken big steps, we need to do more to continue to reduce the cost of childcare for everybody.
We certainly do. I hope that continues to be the commitment from the Department. However, it is not rhetorical to say - it goes to core of the issue - that what is happening here is we have a disjointed, privatised and fragmented childcare service in this country. We would not allow this to happen at primary or second level, but the care is a patchwork of various different types of service and capacity, essentially to deal with the private provision of childcare in this country. I recently visited my local childcare, Treasury Tots, in Ballyfermot. It applied for a grant to refurbish the building, but was initially refused. Treasury Tots has appealed the decision and hopes to win it, but the workers made the point to me that we need a fully funded and properly provided for early education service that is run by the State via these carers and their providers. They are wonderful workers and managers, but they are all the time reliant on a complex and fragmented system. Ultimately this is what we have to deal with.
The Deputy is absolutely right to praise childcare professionals. I was delighted to secure, for the first time, a pay agreement for them in September 2022 where 73% of childcare professionals saw a salary increase. The issue here is that our State has historically not invested in this sector. When I entered office, investment in childcare was €638 million per year. This year, it will be more than €1 billion for the first time. That €1 billion figure was reached five years earlier than previous policy commitments had set out. We need to increase public investment, but we also need to have increased public management of the system. That is what we have done with the fee freeze. For the first time ever, we have a clear mechanism that caps the fees for parents, but also ensures we have solid investment in order that childcare services can reinvest in themselves and pay childcare professionals better. We have gone a significant way in achieving those three goals: lower fees for parents; investment for childcare providers; and better pay for staff.
34. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the measures he is taking to address the severe shortage of childcare provision and early education provision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26326/23]
What measures is the Minister taking to address the severe shortage of childcare provision and early education provision? I ask him to make a statement on the matter.
Ensuring high-quality early learning and childcare is accessible and affordable is a key priority for me and there are a number of funding programmes available through my Department that seek to improve capacity. The new core funding scheme, which we were just discussing, has a range of objectives, including capacity growth. Although this scheme has only been in place since last September, analysis shows that there has already been a significant growth in capacity, with capacity growth for cohorts where we were particularly short, such as baby and toddler rooms, and in areas and parts of the country where there has been significant pressure. To meet the cost of this capacity growth, I increased the original allocation for year 1 of core funding from €207 million to €259 million. In this year's budget I was able to secure an additional €28 million in core funding in year 2, which will allow for an estimated 3% growth in capacity in year 2.
Core funding is one mechanism to increase capacity. The second mechanism is through capital funding and giving providers money to expand or build new services. We have secured €70 million under the revised national development plan. The majority of this funding has been earmarked to improve capacity. Applications for the capacity grant open later this year and can be claimed in 2024.
As well as these funding programmes, we are also looking to support other forms of childcare, particularly childminders. We are working to ensure childminders can be appropriately regulated, allowing parents who use childminders to benefit from the national childcare scheme, thereby equalising between centre-based childcare and childminders.
There is also engagement between my Department and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on the 2001 planning guidelines in terms of the design and delivery of early learning and childcare settings when significant new housing estates have been built.
I will talk about my county of Cavan but I am sure it is reflective of what is happening elsewhere. The Cavan childcare committee as well as a number of providers have reported a crisis with the provision of childcare, particularly for children aged under two years. Many of the baby rooms are closing because the ratio is three children to one childcare professional. Providers are taking the decision that they would be better off having a larger number of older children needing just one childcare provider.
Providers have also highlighted the lack of capital funding to provide new facilities. They feel it is not in place now. I welcome the Minister's statement that €70 million is coming on stream because they have noticed a lack of capital funding which they need. There is also a need for the community provision of childcare services. For example, Cavan town has no community childcare service. There are several private services but the provision is insufficient even with the private services. One small community facility is coming on stream but it will be quite small.
Another provider has told me she has a waiting list of 188 children with 21 of them under one year of age and she will not be able to cope. Parents are bringing their child to the committee in tears because they cannot return to work after maternity leave as there is no childcare provision for them and they cannot afford to take extra unpaid leave.
There is a very strong uptake of core funding in counties Cavan and Monaghan. It is 98% in services in Monaghan and 97% in Cavan, which are among the best rates in the country. There are definitely capacity constraints in both of those counties but we do have vacancies in both. I think it is about an 8% vacancy rate in Monaghan and a 12% vacancy rate in Cavan. However, in particular areas like toddler rooms and baby rooms, there are pressures. When we designed core funding, we did it in such a way as to reward those services that have baby rooms more. We recognise that, given the greater cost of the lower ratios, which I think we all agree are appropriate, core funding should support those baby and toddler rooms more, which it does. Services across Cavan and Monaghan are able to avail of that additional support through core funding if they so choose.
I spoke to another service provider based in Blacklion, which is way over in west Cavan. That service has a waiting list of roughly 60. One of the biggest problems there is not space; it is retaining staff because many staff are leaving to become special needs assistants, SNAs, and so on. In addition, many Ukrainian families have been moved into that area. Those parents cannot go out to work because they cannot source childcare provision meaning that neither the children nor the adults are being integrated into the community.
This has a knock-on effect on the local primary school because children will begin school aged four, which is younger than they should. Many of the children coming from Ukraine do not have English and it causes more problems for the school. The principal says the school is at capacity and has had to turn away children. He has looked for extra resources because Ukrainian children have come into the town at different stages. He wants to bring them into the school and include them but he is finding it very difficult. What additional resources have been put in place to accommodate Ukrainian families, both in the early childhood provision and - I know it is not the remit of the Minister - in primary schools because one is having a knock-on effect on the other?
The Deputy is right in saying we need increased capacity. The building blocks grant will be very important. In July we hope to put out a call for applications for services to be able to apply for extensions or financial support to build new services with a view that that would be called down in 2024. There is real pressure on staff within the childcare system at the moment. One of the best ways we can reduce that is to address the issue of pay. That is why it was so important that we got the employment regulation order agreed. It was important that 25,000 childcare professionals across the country got a pay increase, many of them for the first time, in September of last year. I want to see a new employment regulation order agreed. Those negotiations have begun in the joint labour committee. The Government has put forward an extra €28 million in core funding in year 2 to support services to reach a new employment regulation order and achieve better pay for staff.
35. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will verify the current and precise total number of children on waiting lists for assessment of need in CHO 5, south Tipperary and CHO 3, north Tipperary; the number of children waiting on historical waiting lists, the number of new applications, and the number of children or families still awaiting assessment following a preliminary team assessment review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26325/23]
I am asking this question on behalf of Deputy Lowry. I ask the Minister to outline the total number of children on waiting lists for assessment of need in CHO 5, south Tipperary, and CHO 3, north Tipperary. This should include the number of children waiting on historical waiting lists, the number of new applications and the number of children or families still awaiting assessment following a preliminary investigation. I want an overview of the criteria being used for these waiting lists. Are they just figures?
Children with complex special needs access therapy services through the children’s disability network teams, CDNTs. These services can be accessed through the assessment of needs, AON, process but children do not require an assessment of need under the Disability Act to access health services. The Government and the HSE both acknowledge the challenges in meeting the demand for these disability services and are acutely aware of how these challenges impact on children and their families.
The HSE has advised that there are currently 124 outstanding applications for assessment of needs in the Tipperary area, CHO 3 and CHO 5, at the end of quarter 1 of 2023. A total of 42 new applications for assessment of needs were also received in this time.
The High Court judgment delivered in March directed that the preliminary team assessment, PTA, approach did not fulfil the requirements of the assessment of need under the Disability Act. The judgment stated that a diagnosis is required to determine the nature and extent of a person’s disability. In that regard, new interim clinical guidance to replace the PTA has been clinically approved. This guidance has been designed to take cognisance of the March 2022 judgment that requires a diagnostic assessment. In the last month, the new clinical guidance has been submitted to the Department for consideration by me and the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman.
The HSE has been allocated €11 million in budget 2023 to facilitate additional assessments through a suite of measures, including the establishment of dedicated AON assessment teams; private procurement and overtime initiatives for existing staff; and the recruitment of administrative resources to free up therapists to assist with AONs. The HSE is continuing to review the files of all children who received a preliminary team assessment. If the Deputy wishes, I can go through it in more depth for the past two years.
The question that has been raised here, and it is a national issue really, is about the fact we do the preliminary assessment and then the patient or child comes off the waiting list. What is the waiting list used for? I read an interesting thing in the FUSS report from a member of staff regarding when they are asked to produce numbers. They said there was an "Apparent lack of awareness or insight into how bad things actually are on the ground, e.g constantly seeking figures and KPIs - for what? What is happening with the waitlist figures we send? What is happening with the risks we are highlighting?" The kernel of the question is about the numbers we have on the waiting lists. Do those numbers exclude the people who have had a preliminary assessment? If so, that preliminary assessment is of no use because they do not actually get to an assessment they require. Lots of parents feel this is a box-ticking exercise. They bring in somebody, introduce them and let them out so that person is off the list now.
I totally understand what the Deputy is saying. When the court judgment came in March 2022, PTAs were stood down completely. They stopped. That was a decision that we made at that stage within the Department of Health. We did not challenge it. We reverted back to the original assessment of need process. The PTAs no longer exist. They had been in operation from January 2020 to when they were stood down in March 2022. The children who are in that particular bundle now have to go through the proper assessment of need process, which is what the clinical governance is for. At the moment, some of them are going through the old assessment of need, which is not timebound. That is the process at the moment. Children are not waiting. They are going through that process at the moment but let me reassure everybody that the PTA has been stood down and is null and void.
The question that arises all the time is what good these waiting lists are and what action is being taken to sort them out. For instance, I know of a case of a therapist who is going on maternity leave. The children she was seeing have been told they have to go back on the waiting list because she will not be replaced until she returns from maternity leave. She is probably going to take ten months. The kernel of the problem here is that we have waiting lists, and we can manipulate figures or whatever, but the people on the ground and the parents are not getting the service. They are not getting the early intervention quickly enough. We can have beautiful names and acronyms and everything but at the end of the day, the children are not being seen quick enough. The early interventions are not happening. While we have all these things going on and things being stood down and other things being looked at and other reports being done, children are waiting up to a year and a half or two years for an assessment, whether speech and language or other assessments. That is the problem. How do we address that? If somebody goes on maternity leave, it is well flagged that they are doing so. Efforts should be made to back-fill that position until the person returns.
I completely agree. In actual fact, I said the first day I became a Minister of State that we do not need 100% of a workforce but 140%, in order to ensure people can go on maternity leave. I agree with the Deputy on that. The HSE is back-filling. Funding was provided to ensure managers of the CDNTs could be back-filled. It is also very important for the HSE to implement its own policy, which is called the national access policy. That would mean that when a person goes in the front door and has their initial meeting, they should know if they need to be in the primary care waiting room, the disability waiting room or the CAMHS one. This idea of pushing people from one waiting list to the next is not acceptable by any manner or means. We need the three units to talk to each other. I am grateful that Bernard O'Regan has started that process, supported by Yvonne O'Neill, to ensure we have a true line of sight on figures.
