We have been informed Deputy Aindrias Moynihan will take Deputy Murnane O'Connor's question.
Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions
Health Services Staff
Jennifer Murnane O'Connor
Question:59. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth what engagement his Department has had with the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science regarding the provision of additional college places for speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, child and adolescent mental health psychologists and social workers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32242/23]
One of the biggest challenges in the disability healthcare sector relates to having people available to deliver the much-needed services to clients. A great deal is involved in training people and preparing them to deliver a service. Has the Minister of State engaged with the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to increase the number of training places in colleges and to bring forward additional occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, social workers, child and adolescent mental health psychologists and other essential posts?
The Department is engaging with the Department for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science regarding the provision of additional college places to address the enormous challenges in recruiting health and social care professionals in disability services. To expand the pipeline of health and social care personnel, a cross-departmental group headed up by my Department has been established to consider the current and future supply need for disciplines of staff working in disability services. The group's membership includes representatives of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science along with the Department of Health, the HSE, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, and the Department of Education. It will identify which disciplines of staff need increased supply within disability services, how many staff are needed in each discipline and at which grade, and how the disciplines should be prioritised, along with the numbers of graduate places by discipline in higher education institutes, HEIs, the HEIs' capacity to deliver on current and future need, and employers’ capacity to provide necessary placements as required by CORU. That is the real challenge, because there are not enough therapists in post to provide that clinical governance and oversight at the moment given our teams are severely depleted.
On further education courses that may be considered to upskill people, a number of short courses related to the disciplines I mentioned, excluding speech and language therapy, have been identified. As for speech and language therapy courses, the Department is currently engaged with SOLAS in respect of the provision of speech and language assistant courses planned for 2023.
I fully recognise this area requires specific focus and attention to support the delivery of disability services. In my follow-up response, I might expand on why it is not just about courses but also about using our current talent pool and giving them additional opportunities such as master’s degree programmes.
About 150 students graduate in speech and language therapy from five colleges each year, along with a further 150 graduates in occupational therapy. The figure for psychologist posts vary, given people have to go on and get a PhD. It is a longer, more difficult and more expensive route of qualification and that, too, needs to be examined in order that people can reach it. Likewise, about 200 people graduate as social workers.
At the same time, there are large vacancy rates in the HSE, at 36% for speech and language therapists, 40% for occupational therapists and 39% for psychologists. The Minister with responsibility for higher education has announced additional places for medicine, pharmacy and a number of other courses, to come into being in the next two years. Is there any indication of similar places becoming available in the next college year for these other essential disciplines?
We will receive approximately 189 posts. Working with the Minister, Deputy Harris, we are looking at our education and training boards, ETBs, in the context of the assistant grades, and some ETBs are incredibly proactive in that regard. In respect of physiotherapists, 73 assistant grade therapists qualified at levels 5 and 6 at the ETBs in Cavan-Monaghan, Dublin city, Dún Laoghaire, Kerry and Limerick. That amounts to 85 in total who have qualified as assistants. They are a great support to physiotherapists at a senior level because the senior therapist can write a programme and the assistant can deliver it within the six weeks. They can work in special schools and provide the space we need to expand. ETBs have a huge role to play through level 5 and 6 courses for the assistant grades.
I thank the Minister of State for focusing on colleges. It is going to take a number of years for people to qualify through those courses. I understand that, in the very short term, efforts are being made to increase the availability of critical skills employment permits to allow people from other areas in the world to be brought in to fill some of the posts. Are those posts and permits being taken up or is it too restrictive? Is there an opportunity to improve the process in order that additional people can be brought in to fill the posts in the very short term and deliver essential services to people throughout the country?
To be frank, my crisis is now. While we are working to recruit internationally and the HSE is working hard to put in relocation packages to support that complement, I am also looking at the master's degree programmes. The class of 2020 who qualified in science could pivot immediately into physiotherapy, occupational therapy or speech and language therapy. Similarly, I am looking at postgraduate courses in psychology, through which we could fill a portion of teams, provide clinical oversight and, at the same time, deliver interventions.
We are also working in tandem with ETBs. I have named a half-dozen ETBs that are on the page of delivering courses that, although they last only one year, keep people in college and in service. We need to see more of that. There are a large number of ETBs and we need to have a whole-of-education approach, not a one-prong approach relating just to ETBs. It is needs to be across the gamut and include working on international recruitment.
Questions Nos. 60 and 61 taken with Written Answers.
Health Services Staff
Niamh Smyth
Question:63. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the current pay structure in Enable Ireland for occupational therapists and speech and language therapists; if there are plans to increase funding to Enable Ireland in 2023 and 2024 to cover the costs of basic services for children with complex needs; the engagements he has had with Enable Ireland this year on the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32505/23]
My question concerns Enable Ireland occupational therapist posts and the capacity to fill them and ensure people will be adequately paid. Enable Ireland is a section 39 body in respect of which there is major pressure and inequality regarding pay. What efforts can be made to support the organisation?
My Department acknowledges the important role Enable Ireland and other section 39 organisations and, in particular, their workers play in our health and social care services. This work is essential in providing services to many families and vulnerable people in society. Voluntary service provider agencies provide the majority of services in partnership with and on behalf of the Health Service Executive. The HSE provides funding to more than 419 organisations through more than 1,045 service arrangements throughout the country.
Enable Ireland staff are aligned to the HSE consolidated pay scales as at 1 September 2008, as per the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, agreement and subsequent pay restoration programme completed in 2021. A copy of the scales and structure for the disciplines requested, namely, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists, has been provided by the HSE and will be available to the Deputy if required.
The HSE has established a formal and robust governance framework to cover funding relationships with all non-statutory agencies that are contracted to provide services on behalf of the HSE. This includes voluntary organisations funded under sections 38 and 39 of the Health Act. The HSE currently has 18 service arrangements with Enable Ireland, covering most of the nine HSE community healthcare organisation, CHO, areas.
In 2021, Enable Ireland received funding of more than €47 million. In 2022, Enable Ireland received funding of more than €53 million from the HSE under the section 39 arrangement.
Notwithstanding that section 39 employers do not have an employment relationship with the HSE or the Department, a process of engagement to examine the pay claim of workers in community and voluntary organisations was committed to by the Government. There have been three meetings at the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, so far. I am fully committed to addressing matters through the current WRC process and I want to see matters effectively and quickly resolved in the interests of services users, staff and providers.
Enable Ireland provides services to 13,000 children and adults in 40 locations across the country. As the Minister said, Enable Ireland is part funded by the HSE and it must raise an additional €2 million from its own services to deliver vital services to clients. Last year, 70 people in Cork were out on strike demanding pay at the same rate as those in the other sectors doing the same work. For example, an occupational therapist starting off on the current scale of €39,900 to €53,000 with Enable Ireland contrasts with the private sector where the same position would be advertised for €46,000, on average. Clearly, there is that gap where people are delivering the same service to many clients. That makes it more difficult to recruit and retain staff. That issue needs to be addressed.
The Deputy has rightly summarised the significance of Enable Ireland. They are present in nearly every CHO area. They lead 20 of our community disability network teams in doing such important work with children. They are an example of the real importance the community and voluntary has in terms of the work that the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and I are doing on disability with section 39 organisations and also with the work Tusla does in meeting the needs of children with section 56 organisations. This is why it is really important that this WRC process has commenced and that there is engagement taking place at the moment. I want that engagement to come to a fruitful conclusion that can make provision for these organisations in a way that will allow for greater investment within them. I cannot give a blow-by-blow account. We are in a process right now and I am sure the Deputy understands that but I want to see a resolution here.
I understand the process is under way and that the Minister cannot interfere or give a blow-by-blow account on it but I really want to highlight the pressure on the service users and on the staff due to that widening pay gap between the section 38 and section 39 organisations. It is more difficult to recruit and retain staff. This has a direct knock-on effect to the services being delivered to clients. Many families feel they are getting little or no service. In reality, they are getting none in so many different ways. That gap needs to be filled in order that services are delivered, a speedy and satisfactory resolution, with equality across the section 398 and section 39 organisations, will be delivered and users can expect to get the services they require.
The issue of staff retention is so important, especially there are significant numbers of vacancies on some of our community disability network teams and in other areas in the section 56 organisations. Pay differentials have a role in this regard. This is why it is important we act within the powers we have, again recognising that neither we as the Government or the HSE are the direct employers of these staff. Nevertheless, we must take the steps that we can do. This gap has existed for more than a decade and this is why the Government has identified that we need the process. The Government has agreed to take part in that process. It is ongoing at the moment and there have been a number of productive engagements. It is an issue that I have discussed in my Department and work is taking place between my Department and the Department of Health. As I have said, I look forward to, and hope that we can get, a process that is agreed between the agencies, the Departments and the trade unions, that can deliver for staff but primarily for the users of these services.
Children in Care
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Question:64. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if consideration is being given during the process ahead of budget 2024 to increase the rate of the foster carers’ allowance, which has not increased since 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32456/23]
What consideration or plans are there for budget 2024? We are aware of myriad issues around foster carers’ payments and particular conditions. The Minister had said there were certain things he wanted to deliver on previously. I hope he will have an opportunity to deliver on these in this budget.
Foster carers play a vital role in the care of our most vulnerable children. The placement of a child in foster care is the preferred option for children who cannot live with their family of origin. It enables children in State care to live in a safe, secure, and stable home environment.
The Deputy may be aware that approximately 90% of children in care are cared for by foster carers, which compares extremely favourably with many other jurisdictions. We welcome this and we want to sustain this. We are, however, aware that this number had dropped to late 80% for a period, but it is back to around 90% now. We want to continue to grow that.
As the Deputy will be aware, foster carers are paid a weekly allowance, which is a payment to meet the needs of the child in their care. The foster care allowance is currently €325 per week for a child under 12 years of age and €352 per week for a child aged 12 and over. As the Deputy highlights, this payment has not been increased since 2009. I am already on record as saying that increasing the foster care allowance in budget 2024 is a priority for me. I want to be able to maintain children in foster care. I want to be able to demonstrate to foster carers that the work they do is so valued.
Over the past number of months I have engaged extensively with the Irish Foster Care Association, IFCA, and with Movement 4 Change in Fostercare, two of the organisations involved in the area. I attended the IFCA annual general meeting and I have met with the board. I have also met with Movement 4 Change in Fostercare.
We are also looking at other areas. Both organisations highlighted issues around travel expenses and inconsistencies, in particular the very high excesses of distance that must be travelled before any allowances can be made. Tusla has provided me with a paper on this issue and we are working on that now. In the context of the budget, I hope to be in a position to be able to address the issue of the allowance and other issues as well.
I appreciate that. First and foremost the allowance needs to be dealt with. What the Minister has said about his interaction with IFCA and Movement 4 Change in Fostercare is very positive. I have a list of issues I was going to bring up with him and he has dealt with some of them, including the pension. There have been issues with the contributory pension for foster carers and with child benefit.
The Minister also referred to, which I had failed to do, the vital role foster carers play for kids that come to them, especially under difficult sets of circumstances. Foster carers may have an onus on them to maintain that connection with the family, but sometimes this does involve multiple trips perhaps to two family members. There are added difficulties with that but we do not need expense to be another one, particularly given the added cost-of-living crisis and costs of fuel and so on.
I thank the Deputy. That issue of travel expenses has been highlighted with me. There is a paper going between ourselves and Tusla for a proposal to provide some relief there.
He is correct about the pensions issue. I have discussed this directly with Minister for Social Protection and we will come back to it, especially in respect of the significant reforms she is bringing through with the State pension. I am certainly articulating the need for a position for foster carers within that wider context of the care pension that has been highlighted in the recommendations from the Pensions Commission.
On the wider supports, one of the issues Tusla has brought through is providing therapeutic support for the children in foster care, recognising that because of their circumstances these children may often be more in need of occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and psychotherapy supports. That discrete group of therapist supports is now being put in place by Tusla.
That is all very positive. We need to see that paper and the recommendations in it and see them enacted, whether we are talking about pensions or whatever else. The Minister has dealt with the issue and he has been quite clear that the allowance issue will be dealt with, having not increased since 2009. We have to look at the travel expenses and all those other benefits that these parents and children are sometimes not able to avail of. I would agree that this sometimes involves kids who would have considerable extra needs and that there will be a need for SLTs, OTs and psychologists. We have all engaged on many issues around that but sometimes we need to make sure we can put the interventions in as quickly as possible. There would be long-term savings for the State and a real societal win for everyone across the board. The one thing I would throw out is that at times I am told there is an anomaly between those who are directly paid by Tusla or on Tusla's books as opposed to those paid through agencies. If we deal with the issue of allowances, that should address some of it but it is an issue that there is a bit more flexibility for some of these agencies.
I want to promote the direct engagement by Tusla of foster carers. It is important we recognise Tusla's changed approach to this issue. It is in the process right now of appointing a national lead for foster care. I was surprised that was not in place but I know it is something Bernard Gloster wanted to implement and it is something Kate Duggan has implemented now. That gives a much clearer focus within the organisation, recognising that of the 5,000 or so children who are in care, 90% are in foster care. It is appropriate that there is a national lead in Tusla to support policies that can grow the number of foster carers. I have met with the Irish Foster Care Association, IFCA, board. Many of them are older now and we need to get young people involved in foster care. Like the social workers I spoke with, many of the new younger foster carers are care experienced themselves. We need to support them and I have set out a number of ways here today through which I hope to be able to support them going forward.
With Members' permission, I am going to go back to an Teachta Alan Dillon.
Early Childhood Care and Education
Alan Dillon
Question:62. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the steps he has taken to control increase in childcare costs in the summer months when the early childhood care and education programme is not running; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32517/23]
While I welcome recent benefits in the area of childcare costs in Ireland, costs are still a huge barrier for families and those returning to work. What does the Minister intend to do to decrease the costs of childcare in budget 2024?
The early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme is a universal two-year preschool programme. Children within the eligible age range can access this programme for three hours per day, five days per week. The delivery of the ECCE programme aligns with the school year and operates over 38 weeks per year from September to June. All hours of early learning and childcare accessed outside of the ECCE programme hours, either within term or out of term, can be subsidised by the national childcare scheme, NCS, for a maximum of 45 hours per week. Right now, record numbers of families are being supported by the NCS to offset the cost of early learning and childcare. As of 5 June, a total of 122,256 children are benefiting from an NCS subsidy. That is a 90% increase in the number of kids benefiting from the NCS in one year. Moreover, following the budget announcement last year, from 2 January the minimum level of support under the NCS is now €1.40 per hour, which is up 90 cent from the 50 cent it was previously. This represents €3,276 off the annual cost of childcare per child where a family is availing of 45 hours of early learning and care per week. To ensure that the full effects of the ECCE programme and the NCS are felt by parents, the core funding scheme that has been in place since September 2022 to support providers has introduced fee management for the first time. One of the conditions of getting core funding is that services agree not to increase their fees from September 2021 levels. Some 95% of services across the country have signed up to this scheme and its conditions. As part of this year's budget and Estimates process, I will be working to cut costs further but I will also be working to achieve other aims in terms of expanding access to early learning and childcare.
I thank the Minister for his response. He must be commended on his response with regard to the NCS but also for the increased funding to the sector with the additional €173 million in 2022 via the core funding scheme. That was a huge statement of intent by this Government in terms of addressing the pay issues within the sector, which resulted in pay increases for more than 70% of early years managers and educators. I must bring to the Minister's attention that there is an ongoing concern about the lack of crèche facilities, which is becoming a real barrier for parents returning to work. Parents who are using crèches are now saving thousands of euro per year with the reductions in childcare fees but for those in rural areas, it has become a significant barrier. I would ask that we use the capital programme to develop more outreach within rural areas and prioritise this within the upcoming budget.
The measures I have sought to introduce are to make provision for providers, make provision for childcare professionals and make provision for parents. It is important that all three are provided for in the measures the Government brings forward because, ultimately, looking after all those will ensure they can better look after our children. The Deputy is absolutely right about the pressure on capacity. When we introduced core funding, we saw a significant growth in capacity. Services responded to that. They added extra rooms.
We are bringing forward capital proposals. We will be bringing forward €20 million for capital expansion next year and a further €40 million the following year. We are working with planning authorities so that where a childcare facility is a condition of planning permission, it is actually delivered. I am not sure what the situation is in Mayo but I know of a few carcass buildings around the place that should be childcare facilities but that was never delivered. The final point is childminders. Bringing childminders within the national childcare scheme will significantly increase capacity as well.
I thank the Minister for his response. I certainly welcome his response in relation to childminders. They are pivotal in rural areas, where many children are cared for in the childminder's home. Bringing them into the scheme will certainly entice a lot more people to use childminders, which will complement the crèche facilities within community settings or private settings. That is really important going forward. We should also address the ongoing issues around capitation. We have heard from the early childhood providers who are calling for additional funding to administer the core funding element. That was evident in the many engagements we have had with SIPTU and the representative bodies. That is important. We are making significant progress in this area and I have to commend the Minister on that. Hopefully the budget in September will be the next step in the Government's commitment within the programme for Government.
For the second year of core funding, which kicks in in September, I was delighted to be able to secure an additional €28 million. That is an 11% growth year on year to support providers, which is very significant. The Deputy is right. In this year's budget we have many goals we want to achieve. We want to keep core funding growing. We really want to cut fees for parents again. We recognise that despite the progress we made this year, fees are still too high so we want to grow the NCS. We want to bring childminders into the NCS because there is a group of parents who were excluded from the benefits of the scheme. That involves childminders being regulated appropriately. It would not be the same regulations that apply to a Montessori or a large chain but appropriate regulation. Another thing that I and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, are passionate about is the access and inclusion model and ensuring that children with a disability can get the full benefit of the ECCE programme and, indeed, beyond that. We want to grow the access and inclusion model so more children can get the benefits of early learning and the benefits their families get from that as well.
Question No. 65 taken with Written Answers.
Childcare Services
Brendan Smith
Question:66. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will put in place at an early date an adequate grant aid scheme to support the provision of new and substantial community childcare facilities where such needs exist; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32443/23]
As the Minister is aware, community childcare facilities, along with childcare accommodation provided by private providers, has transformed childcare provision over the past 20 years throughout the entire country. Were it not for community facilities, there would be areas without childcare provision. Grant aid was very significant, with some projects being funded to a level of more than €1.1 million. Another such scheme is needed, based on the representations coming to me in recent times.
This is an issue the Deputy has brought to me regularly.
It touches on what Deputy Dillon spoke about earlier regarding capacity.
Some €69 million has been allocated between 2023 and 2025 to the early learning and childcare sectors under the revised national development plan. This will enable significant capital investment in early learning and childcare across three pillars. Pillar 1 is the improvement grant, pillar 2 is the capacity grant and pillar 3 is the innovation grant. The improvement grant was offered this year and is now closed. Under this pillar, €9 million was allocated earlier this year in grants ranging from €35,000 to €75,000 for either energy upgrades or retrofit projects. Work is currently under way on the design and delivery of pillars 2 and 3, which have a combined allocation of €20 million in 2024, growing to €40 million in 2025.
The capacity grant will be available to both community and private providers to fund an expansion of existing services in areas of under supply. Funding will also be provided to support the delivery of new services, where they are most needed.
The innovation grant will pilot a range of innovative initiatives, such as outdoor early learning and childcare services. A working group, comprising officials from my Department, representatives of the city and county childcare committees and Pobal, has been established to oversee the design and delivery of pillar 2. The group is conducting a needs analysis, which will identify areas of unmet need, by geographical area and by age cohort.
I hope to be in a position to provide more information on the capacity grant in the coming weeks. In addition to capital funding, as I mentioned to Deputy Dillon, the mere introduction of core funding has created expansion in terms of capacity. That can be seen in the €28 million allocated in year two. We are allowing for a 3% growth in overall capacity. Extra money has been put in to recognise that by creating core funding we are going to grow the number of places.
I thank the Minister for his reply and compliment him on the work he has been doing over the past two and a half years in expanding the range of supports available for childcare. Thankfully, the public finances are in a very healthy state today due to policies that have been implemented over many years in building an enterprise economy and growing our exports. At this particular time, more and more funding should be devoted to the provision of more and upgraded childcare accommodation. We all know that the greatest resource we have as a country is our young people. We have to ensure that every child, regardless of where he or she comes from or lives, has access to a modern childcare facility.
I mentioned to the Minister previously that there are a number of groups in my constituency where, thankfully, the numbers have overgrown their existing childcare facilities. However, additional capacity is needed. We are talking about extremely large-scale funding. I remember very well from my time in the Department and as a public representative over many years that were it not for the community childcare provision, there would be many areas, particularly rural ones, where we would not have childcare provision.
I thank the Deputy. Regarding the pillars I announced there, I think the Deputy is going to be particularly interested in pillar 2, which is a capacity grant. This will allow existing services to expand and build brand new services. I hope that later on in the summer, we will be in a position to make the announcement on how people can apply this year to draw down funds for the capacity grant in 2024, pillar 2 of the provision. There will be an allocation of capital money for 2024 and for 2025. I know the Deputy will be interested in that, as will most other Deputies.
The core funding is promoting a growth of allocation. The issues to do with the planning system and the delivery of new services when significant residential areas are built are also important. It might be a little bit more significant in more urbanised areas than in other areas, but nevertheless it is important in terms of developing and delivering extra capacity.
I thank the Minister. I am particularly interested in the capacity measure. I was involved in a getting a group in my constituency a childcare facility in that town. I remember people saying that it would never be used to its fullest potential because there would not be enough children. Thankfully, in one sense, it is not able to cope with the numbers. This is a great sign of how satisfied parents are with the quality of the childcare provided and the great support that is given to parents, particularly mothers, who want to return to the workforce. A very committed and active committee is involved with the project. It is looking at the numbers for the future and it has outlined to me that it will have to leave the present accommodation because it cannot grow it any more. We went through some figures. We are talking about a large amount of funding to put a new childcare facility in place.
When we have that willingness and determination from local communities to put in place proper childcare for the local children, we have to ensure every possible support is given to them. In the past we had grants of up to €1.2 million available for community childcare facilities. Those facilities have transformed childcare provision in so many communities and we need to keep repeating that.
I acknowledge this is an area the Deputy knows particularly well. As I said, we have brought in these allocations under the NDP. They will be able to be drawn down next year and the following year. I would like it if the envelope were a bit bigger. We will always be pushing to grow the capital as well as the current side we spoke about earlier. We will continue to work to grow that. The figures are big, particularly when one designs purpose-built childcare facilities. We want that more and more, so that we are giving the very best to our children.
Disability Services
Aindrias Moynihan
Question:67. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide an update on the programme for Government’s commitment to double the target for employment of people with disabilities in the public service to 6%; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32325/23]
There is dignity and opportunity in having a job. Yet for many people with disabilities this is denied them. The programme for Government has a target of doubling the numbers of people with disabilities employed in the State services. Can the Minister of State give an outline of the efforts to bring that about?
I am fully committed to ensuring that more people with disabilities are employed in the public service. The public service must show leadership in this area.
Part 5 of the Disability Act 2005 sets out obligations on public bodies to promote and support the employment of people with disabilities. The obligation previously set a minimum target such that 3% of public sector workers should be persons with disabilities. Government has doubled that statutory target for the employment of people with disabilities in the public sector via the Assisted Decision-Making Capacity (Amendment) Act 2022. This measure was commenced by the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, in April. The disability Act was amended and the minimum target was doubled from 3% to 6%. This will increase on a phased basis to 4.5% on 1 January 2024, and to 6% on 1 January 2025.
I will be contacting my ministerial colleagues to draw attention to the increased targets and to the implications for their Departments and bodies under their aegis. I will also be making contact with bodies under the aegis of my Department and with the HSE.
The National Disability Authority, NDA, prepares an annual report on compliance with Part 5 of the Disability Act 2005 each year. The most recent report relates to figures for 2021. The then minimum target of 3% was exceeded by the public service as a whole for the 11th year in a row, as it stood at an overall figure of 3.6 %. This figure of 3.6% is very small and make us outliers in Europe, and there is no denying that.
Although there is certainly work to be done to ensure the 6% target is met, the overall trend in recent years is encouraging. The report on compliance in 2021 indicates that 36.5% of public bodies were already meeting the new target. This represents a positive increase on the previous year's figure of only 28.4%. In 2021, the overall number of public sector employees reporting a disability increased by 18% on the previous year's figures.
The minimum statutory employment target is set at 3%, as the Minister of State said, with a view to doubling that to 6% in 2025. That was enacted recently as part of the assisted decision making Act. As the Minister of State outlined, the NDA has a role in reporting and monitoring. She referred to its most recent report from 2021 showing the percentage at 3.6% across all sectors.
Unfortunately, 27 of the 213 public bodies did not make that target. All of the organisations must comply by 2025. Will the Minister of State outline what steps will be taken to progress that so that all of the organisations will meet the targets? She is looking at a target of 4% for next year and already a number of organisations have been falling behind on what is needed. We must remember that it is not about targets, it is about giving opportunity, dignity and employment to people, and that must be front and centre all the time.
Deputy Moynihan has clearly identified that 12.7% of public bodies did not reach the minimum target. When the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and I met recently with the board of the HSE, this was one particular issue we raised with them and drew to their attention. The HSE has also indicated improvements on previous performance. That is significant given the scale of the HSE as a public sector employer. The NDA is currently engaging in a strategic process of engagement with a designated team that has been appointed in the HSE to focus on improving the performance of public bodies under Part 5 of the Act. I understand that, as a result of this process, the HSE is making progress towards meeting its obligations under Part 5. In 2020 and 2021, it has been reporting a slight increase in the number and percentage of employees reporting a disability. While I give the HSE as an example, it is not alone. It is not unique. If we can get a system and a framework in place with one particular organisation, we should be able to mirror it across others.
One of the issues that has been raised with me by a number of different people is that they feel there is almost a redefinition of what might be considered a person with disabilities. It has almost been broadened out to some extent, so that people who are possibly currently in employment might help to improve the figures, as it were. Unfortunately, others who are not currently in employment might not make it. Basically, there is a kind of a softening of the definition. That would be to the detriment of people with disabilities who are not in employment at the moment and do not have the opportunity to get a job. Is the Minister of State aware of any such situations where there will be a redefinition or redesigning of disability? Does she have a view on that?
I do have a view on it. My view is that we do not have a clear understanding of disabilities. All of us talk about awareness, but where is the understanding? The understanding of disabilities is that every one of us who reaches 50 years of age will be dependent on a piece of assistive technology to get us through our day. That is an acknowledgement and an understanding, but for people who have profound or complex disabilities, a physical or mental disability or who is neurodiverse, we must understand how to have inclusion and participation within the workforce and what accommodations can be put in place, be it within the public sector, to ensure a person can have an active, meaningful participation in work. As Deputy Moynihan knows, that is one of the pillars that lifts a person out of poverty.
The most important piece here is the engagement that will have to happen within the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The working week needs to be reduced from 19 hours to 14 hours so more people are able to participate in the workforce. Until we change that lever, regardless of our terminology, we will not have more people participating. That lever needs to be changed, and that is within the gift of our Departments.
Question No. 68 taken with Written Answers.
Direct Provision System
Catherine Connolly
Question:69. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth further to Question No. 73 of 30 May 2023, the status of the review of the projected timelines for the implementation of the White Paper to end direct provision and establish a new international protection support service; if the review has been completed to date; the timeline for the publication of the review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32458/23]
I wish to follow up on a previous question about direct provision. I would like an update on the review of the implementation of the times for the White Paper recommendations and for the establishment of the new international protection support service. I ask that question given the long history that we are very familiar with in direct provision.
As Deputy Connolly knows, in February 2021, the Department published the White Paper to end direct provision and it contained three core themes: accommodation, integration and supports.
Since the lifting of the Covid-19 restrictions, more than 15,000 people have come to Ireland seeking international protection, and at the same time more than 84,000 people have fled from Ukraine, the vast majority of whom have required accommodation from the State. In that context, there is a recognition that the underlying assumptions on which the White Paper was based, namely, 3,500 people arriving per year, need to be re-examined. This work is being undertaken by the White Paper programme board and I hope to bring proposals to Cabinet shortly in that regard.
In terms of accommodation, the focus is on providing more State-owned capacity, in particular through the development of phase 1 - reception and integration centres. In conjunction with this work, my Department has purchased approximately 30 phase 2 properties around the country. These are going to be used by vulnerable international protection applicants, and they will be operated by approved housing bodies. The Department has also introduced independent monitoring of direct provision centres by HIQA, providing greater confidence on the standards being applied in international protection accommodation.
To improve the ability to integrate, this Government has granted international protection applicants the right to work after six months, the right to apply for driving licences, and access to bank accounts. My Department is providing funding for new integration teams in each local authority to better help international protection applicants engage with existing local services. We have launched a national integration fund worth €1.6 million each year to support projects and communities to help integrate international protection applicants and to provide them with training and skills.
In terms of supports, my Department has for the first time introduced vulnerability assessments for new international protection applicants. This allows the Department to identify those applicants who are in greatest need of support within the system. In addition, we recently provided €1.3 million in support to children and young people's services committees to develop support for services for children and young people living in direct provision.
Finally, the REALT network of language supports for Ukrainian children has been extended to provide support to children in international protection in terms of securing school places and additional supports.
What does the word "shortly" mean? When will the review be completed and when will it be published? I welcome that the State-owned capacity is being increased and that 30 buildings have been acquired. I also welcome the independent monitoring by HIQA. I am less hopeful about the local authorities because my experience is that they lack staff. That is certainly the case with Galway County Council where there is a lack of resources. It constantly tells Deputies it does not have enough money. Galway City Council has similar problems. We have an acting manager. We had an acting manager in Galway County Council for nine years. I tremble when it comes to putting a weight on that.
There is a legal obligation to carry out vulnerability assessments. The figures are staggering. The Minister knows them much better than I do. What is really staggering is that of the 21,573 accommodated by international protection accommodation services, IPAS, as of 23 June, almost one quarter, 5,200, have status. I will stop on time and come back in.
Deputy Connolly is right. The vulnerability assessments are an EU obligation. They were not being carried out for many years, and that is why I identified them as a priority. They are being carried out now. They are revealing significant vulnerabilities, and that allows us to better plan the services we provide.
In terms of the update on the White Paper, I have reviewed a draft in recent days and I hope to bring it to the Cabinet before the Cabinet rises for the summer at the end of July. That is my hope and that is what I am working towards.
I hear what Deputy Connolly says about a lack of staff. That is why these integration teams are directly funded by my Department. This is money my Department is giving to each of the 31 city and county councils throughout the country, solely for the purpose of appointing these four-person teams. I think it is a grade 8, two grade 7s and a grade 5 to undertake this work. I know that hiring has begun in some local authorities. Deputy Connolly does not need me to tell her her job, but she can engage with Galway City Council and Galway County Council on where they are in hiring these two teams because they have the money.
I thank the Minister for clarifying the position on funding. Later this week we will be talking about biodiversity and the lack of biodiversity officers, who are scarce on the ground. When we asked questions about that, there was not enough money. I just want to put it in perspective. There is a huge lack of staff.
There are almost 22 years of history in this regard. Direct provision was to be temporary. We all welcomed the White Paper.
We had Catherine Day with another document. We had McMahon with another document and the Ombudsman. They all told us that direct provision was inhuman and had to be phased out. I welcomed the steps the Minister took in relation to that but I knew it would not happen because we have a housing crisis. All the eggs were being put in the basket of public housing which was not available. The review is extremely important to establish how we will end direct provision.
It is deplorable that we have introduced a two-tier system for refugees and asylum seekers. It is appalling that Ukrainian refugees are treated in one way and asylum seekers from other countries in another.
The money for the integration teams was secured by my Department in budget 2023, so it is available for this year. It is there. It has been given. There has been extensive negotiation with the Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, and the County and City Management Association, CCMA, on the provision of this. That money is there.
The Deputy is correct about what direct provision was meant to be and that we have ended up with the system still in place 21 years later. Many people are working hard to support the changes we are trying to make. Catherine Day is a member of the expert advisory group that is supporting my Department to make changes. I would like to be in a position to be talking about the full implementation of the White Paper, but we have to recognise that when 15,000 people arrived last year, it changed the landscape. We had to respond to that. The Deputy will be aware my Department has struggled to provide accommodation for all 15,000. We are doing so again and that is important. However, as well as meeting immediate needs, we must look to a long-term move away from direct provision. I hope the update I will provide will be able to give indications.
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire.
Question Nos. 70 to 91, inclusive, taken with Written Answers.
Childcare Services
Kathleen Funchion
Question:92. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to address the steps he will take in budget 2024 to address disadvantaged children in early years education given the significant levels of child poverty being experienced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32485/23]
This question relates to the steps in budget 2024 that will address disadvantaged children in early years education, given the significant levels of child poverty being experienced.
I am committed to tackling disadvantage through high-quality early learning and childcare that is affordable and accessible. In line with a commitment in First 5 and informed by recommendations in Partnership for the Public Good, officials in my Department are currently tailoring a policy response to progress the development of a new strand of funding, the equal participation model. Through this work, services will be provided with a proportionate mix of universal and targeted supports to support children and families who are experiencing disadvantage to access services.
Following a detailed scoping phase, the consultation phase took place from December 2022 to May 2023. This phase included semi-structured interviews, thematic workshops, both in-person and online, focus groups and an online surveys. Non-governmental organisations representing the different cohorts the equal participation model aims to reach, for example, the Traveller and Roma communities, homeless persons, refugees, migrants and lone parent families, were engaged with during that process, as well as early learning and childcare providers, educators, practitioners and their representative bodies. Traveller, refugee and migrant parents, parents with a disability, parents of a child with a disability and one-parent families were also engaged with in that process. The policy is currently being drafted. It will be of real benefit. We will learn from the access and inclusion model, AIM, which includes a good mix of universal and targeted supports.
Other measures we have taken include the pilot of the provision of hot meals, which is currently under way. It has now been completed and is being evaluated. As the Deputy will be aware, early in my term of office, we removed the wraparound hours. Deputy Funchion flagged with me early on the practice of the wraparound hours and the impact it was having, perhaps, on Traveller children attending after-school programmes. We put in the finance earlier to remove that. The equal participation model will be exciting and we are working on developing that policy at the moment.
I wanted to raise the issue of meals in pre-schools as I have received good feedback on it. Will that continue? It is a pilot scheme but it was very successful.
On the policy the Minister referenced that is being drafted, does he envisage it will be ready for the budget or is it a longer term project? In the area of poverty, particularly child poverty, anything we can do to assist children and families is welcome. We had a lot of back and forth about the hours over the years and it was a welcome change. It was significant for families. Sometimes we all fall into the trap of thinking of early years education as childcare and thinking of it in terms of getting to work, but there are many advantages for children, especially those who come from vulnerable situations so that was welcome.
I want to know specifically about the pre-school meals.
I would like to advance a significant number of issues in this year's budget. We have spoken about some of them already, such as cutting costs for all parents, bringing childminders into the scheme so that parents can benefit from the national childcare scheme, NCS, and extending AIM so that more children with a disability can access more hours in early learning and care. We have to see where the equal participation model is in its development. I would like to extend the meals in pre-school settings, but there are many demands in this sector and this is only one part of our broad Department.
It is a little early in the process but I am looking to advance meaningful measures. The Deputy will be aware that the Taoiseach highlighted the issue of child poverty. It an issue of real importance to all three parties in the coalition. Certainly the equal participation model is specifically designed to tackle child poverty.
If it is early in the process, that gives us the opportunity to keep asking - asking early and asking often. That is good to know. I welcome that.
I also want to reference childminders coming into the scheme. That will be welcome in general. A huge number of people rely on childminders. Not everyone, including those of us in this Chamber, has a nine to five, Monday to Friday type role. We rely heavily on childminders. That will be significant for people in a disadvantaged situation because they often rely on childminders with whom they may have developed a relationship and a bond of trust. The scheme may not be of benefit because they fall outside it at the moment. I came across a single parent recently who was struggling to find a place. The person qualified for all the schemes and could get a childminder but could not afford that service. That is a good example of where it can be of benefit.
The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and I will adopt Deputy Funchion's mantra of asking early and often in all our engagements with the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform in the next-----
In your case, you have to answer early and answer often
The Deputy is right about childminders. I am conscious that thousands of parents rely on childminders and were not able to get the benefit of the significant cuts we were able to bring in to the cost of childcare for parents using centre-based childcare . I am also conscious that some childminders are concerned about the process because it will involve a degree of regulation. That has to be the case. If a significant State subsidy is going to be given, there has to be a regulation. I have always said it will be appropriate regulation. It will be designed for childminders and recognise they are in a different situation from those providing centre-based childcare. I want to create appropriate regulation they will feel comfortable signing up to, thus allowing parents to benefit.
Questions Nos. 93 and 94 taken with Written Answers.
Disability Services
Aindrias Moynihan
Question:95. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide an update on the status of the provision of community neurorehabilitation teams in community healthcare organisation, CHO, area 4; what funding, if any, has been allocated to increase these services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32324/23]
Will the Minister give an outline of the funding that will be available,for community neurorehabilitation teams across counties Cork and Kerry, including any increases and supports that can be given to those organisations to be able to provide those vital services to people in those counties?
I thank the Deputy for raising this particular question. The programme for Government, Our Shared Future, includes a commitment to advancing neurorehabilitation services in the community. In budget 2023, the Minister and I secured enough funding to put in place two community neurorehabilitation teams. Those two teams were in CHO 2 and CHO 4. The funding that was secured was in excess of €1.8 million. Not only did we secure that funding, we also secured enough funding for 28 new neurorehabilitation clinical specialists to be deployed in acute settings. We are building on the neuro strategy that was set out. The framework was done in 2019 and, to be fair to the former Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, and the previous Government, they put in place funding for CHO 6 and CHO 7. However, it became apparent last year, when I sought funding for CHO 4 and CHO 2, that the funding secured for CHO 6 and CHO 7 had never been used. The reason was that not enough people were assigned to the teams. We hope that by the back end of this year, we will fund those areas.
How will it work? We will have a minimum of 12 to 15 staff to start with. They will support a range of organisations dealing with people with Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, acquired brain injury and Huntington's disease, to name but a few. There will be a multidisciplinary team, including psychology, occupational therapy and speech and language professionals. They are specialists in their fields. They will work in those community teams. As opposed to staying in the National Rehabilitation Hospital, NRH, people can be discharged and return to their communities. They will not need to go into another acute setting. We will have a community team in place. We will also have a community team to work with those various organisations, such as MS Ireland, which provide respite. That will allow patients to be supported in a bespoke way. The community team is bringing people back to the community to support them and ensure they can lead progressive and independent lives in their own communities.
Is féidir teacht ar Cheisteanna Scríofa ar www.oireachtas.ie.
Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website.