Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 2 April 2008
318 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health and Children if staffing grants are being introduced for community based child care facilities under the NCIP to ensure that the effective tiered fee structures are put in place, and to ensure that all facilities seek to move towards sustainability, and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11601/08]
View answer319 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health and Children if approval for community based staffing grants will be given for a minimum of three years; if consideration will be given to adoption and implementation of criteria based on levels of disadvantage; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11602/08]
View answer320 Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health and Children if under the NCIP further articulation of the way the programme can address the objectives of supporting families to break the cycle of poverty and disadvantage will be given; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11603/08]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 318 to 320, inclusive, together.
As the Deputy will be aware, I have responsibility for the National Childcare Investment Programme 2006-2010 (NCIP) under which the Community Childcare Subvention Scheme (CCSS) was introduced in January of this year. The CCSS replaced the previous staffing support grant scheme which was implemented under the EU co-funded Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-2006 (EOCP) and which ended in December 2007.
In providing for the CCSS and the previous EOCP support scheme, Government child care policy has recognised the need to target additional supports towards disadvantaged families in addition to the main supports which are made available to parents to assist them with their child care costs, that is Child Benefit and the Early Childcare Supplement. The latter payment is the responsibility of my Office, and it alone is expected to amount to expenditure of over €500m in 2008. These payments are universal and benefit all parents, regardless of their income, labour market status or the type of child care they choose.
The Community Childcare Subvention Scheme has an allocation of €154.2 million over 2008-2010 and will continue to support and ensure the sustainability of community-based child care services which provide reduced child care fees for disadvantaged parents. Community-based child care services will qualify for grant aid on the basis of the level of service they provide and the profile of the parents benefiting from their service. The parent profile of each service, and the amount of subvention it will receive, are determined on the basis of completed parent declaration forms which they return as part of the application process. The subvention received by services is, in turn, reflected in a tiered fee system under which reduced fees are charged to parents who qualify as disadvantaged under the scheme. As the parent declaration forms are completed on an annual basis, the level of funding which is approved for each service is established on an annual basis.
Transitional arrangements have been put in place to facilitate services which were funded under the previous EOCP support scheme to adjust to the new arrangements. As a result, these services will receive not less than 95% of their previous level of funding in 2008. The CCSS also recognises that in some cases, particularly in rural areas or on the islands, community child care services may operate with a small or fluctuating number of children, in which case a minimum annual grant level of €20,000 can be awarded.
The CCSS provides an effective framework for the continued targeting of additional resources towards disadvantaged parents and their children while continuing to support community-based child care services generally, and I am satisfied that it will also be effective in delivering the NCIP objectives of supporting families to break the cycle of poverty and disadvantage. It will also provide a framework which can accommodate any future child care related initiatives which may be introduced. The scheme is responsive to the level of service provided as well as the degree of parental disadvantage and the ceiling for funding which existed under the previous scheme has been removed. Account is also taken of all of the operational costs of the service rather than staffing costs alone. The changes which have been introduced will ensure that the most affordable child care is available to families according to their means. Put simply, the tiered fee structure is the most effective way of ensuring that the considerable and ongoing Government support for the community child care sector, will be targeted at those who need it most.
I am also pleased to advise the Deputy that, the Childcare Directorate of my Office has begun notifying services of their individual grant levels for July-December 2008 and that the total amount of grant assistance under the new Scheme will be significantly higher than was the case under the previous scheme. I am confident that the Community Childcare Subvention Scheme is a fair and equitable way of supporting community child care operators in the provision of an affordable and high quality service to parents, based on their means.
321 Deputy Áine Brady asked the Minister for Health and Children the policy measures her Department has and the guidelines it issues to local authorities to encourage the provision of child care places in rural areas in view of the fact that families from rural areas also have requirements for child care; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11606/08]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, I have responsibility for the National Childcare Investment Programme 2006-2010 (NCIP) which will invest €575 million over 5 years in developing child care services.
The NCIP came into effect in January 2006 and aims to provide a proactive response to the development of quality child care supports and services, which are grounded in an understanding of local needs. It is building on the success of the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000 — 2006 (EOCP) and has a target of creating 50,000 new child care places, supported by capital grant aid. Services eligible for support include those providing care for babies, full-day care, part-time, sessional playschool and other preschool places, school age child care including "wrap around" child care places, and childminding. Special consideration is given to supporting services which provide a range of these services.
The NCIP has a particular focus on identifying service gaps and matching supply and demand for services at a local level, both in urban and rural areas. In this regard, the City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs), which are established throughout the country, play an important role in assisting capital grant applicants to develop child care services which need priority local needs. The CCCs have undertaken strategic mapping exercises to assist them in identifying gaps in the provision of services in their locality, to maximise the impact of NCIP capital grant funding and ensure better value for money.
The CCCs also work closely with other key agencies at local level, and are well-placed to assist the local authorities to meet the commitment in the Programme for Government to provide child care facilities as part of their social housing plans. My Office will also continue to liaise with the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government in regard to its commitments under the Programme for Government, to ensure a supply of affordable child care premises by requiring housing developers to make a monetary contribution or provide a site to local authorities for child care facilities, the location and type of which will be decided in consultation with the CCCs.
The NCIP also provides for the Community Childcare Subvention Scheme (CCSS) which was introduced in January of this year. The CCSS has an allocation of €154.2 million over 2008-2010 and provides an effective framework for targeting of additional resources towards disadvantaged parents and their children while continuing to support community-based child care services generally, complementing the universal supports in place for all parents in the form of Child Benefit and the Early Childcare Supplement. The level of grant aid which individual services qualify for will reflect the level of service they provide and the profile of the parents benefiting from their service. The subvention received by services is, in turn, reflected in reduced fees for parents who qualify as disadvantaged under the Scheme. The Scheme recognises that in some cases, particularly in rural areas or on the islands, community-based child care services may cater for small or fluctuating numbers of children, in which case a minimum annual grant level of €20,000 can be awarded.
