Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 October 2012
35. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to ensure the registration and regulation of all paid child minders; her plans to introduce child protection training and Garda vetting requirements for the sector; her plans for routine inspections; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46754/12]
View answerMy Department has begun work on Ireland’s first Early Years Strategy. I have received Government approval for the approach I am taking in developing to this Strategy as an innovative and dynamic blueprint for the future development of Ireland’s Early Years sector aimed at providing a coherent approach to seeking to improve the lives of children from birth to age six. One of the issues of policy which I have identified for consideration in the preparation of the new Strategy is the development of the child minding sector as a fully-integrated component of early childhood care and education, in particular for under-one age group.
At present pre-school services are regulated under the Child Care (Pre-School Services) (No.2) Regulations 2006, as provided for under Part VII of the Child Care Act 1991. Services providing care for children who have not yet commenced primary school are required to notify their service to the Pre-School Inspectorate of the Health Service Executive (HSE) and are subject to inspection and report by the Inspectorate on a regular basis. Services covered by the Regulations include full-time, part-time and sessional services as well as childminders taking care of more than three pre-school children from different families in the childminder’s home. Childminders taking care of not more than three pre-school children from different families are not covered by the Regulations, recognising parental choice to place children with friends and neighbours, and the challenges of the over-regulation of the more informal arrangements chosen by parents.
The National Guidelines for Childminders, compiled by the National Childcare Co-ordinating Committee which oversees the development of an integrated child care infrastructure throughout the country, provide guidance to childminders on good practice, and assist them to decide whether they are subject to the Regulations, as well as providing other useful information on the role of the childminder in the provision of child care services.
As is the case with all regulatory requirements, the Child Care Regulations set the minimum standards which services are legally required to comply with. However, my Department is pro-active in monitoring, promoting and developing the highest standards of care and education throughout the sector, including the regulatory environment, given the important role which these services play in this crucial phase of children’s lives.
The Children First National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children, which I published in 2011, provides clarity and guidance for individuals and organisations in identifying and responding appropriately to child abuse and neglect. It also sets out what organisations that care for or work with children should do to ensure they are safe whilst in the care of the organisation. The Government has committed, as a priority, to the introduction of legislation to underpin Children First.
The Deputy will be aware that I published the Heads of the Children First Bill in April 2012. The purpose of the Bill is to ensure that organisations and professionals who work with children have a statutory responsibility to report reasonable concerns about the abuse or neglect of children in their care to the HSE Child and Family Services. I asked the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children to consider the Heads of the Children First Bill and make recommendations. I received their comprehensive Report in July and I thank the Committee for its work on this matter. My Department is currently considering the broad range of submissions to, and recommendations of the Joint Committee, including those submissions pertaining to the issue of childminders, and I hope to be in a position to publish the Bill in the coming months.
