Written Answers Nos 37-44
37. Deputy Kevin Humphreys asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will be supporting the parent child home programme operated by the Early Learning Initiative in the Dublin Docklands area; if her attention has been drawn to its efforts to achieve a five year funding goal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6997/13]
View answerMy Department currently provides support to parents to assist them with the cost of childcare. This support is provided through the provision of two targeted childcare support programmes - the Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) programme, which provides funding to community-based childcare services to enable them to provide childcare at reduced rates to low income and/or parents on social welfare; and the Childcare Education and Training Support (CETS) programme, which provides payments towards the weekly cost of childcare places for trainees and students deemed qualified by FÁS and the VEC. My Department also provides the funding that supports the universal Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme which gives one free pre-school year to all children before they commence primary school.
As part of Budget 2013 I, together with my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, was pleased to announce a new After-School Childcare initiative which will be targeted at low-income families and supporting parents availing of employment opportunities. The initiative is expected to receive full year funding of €14 million to provide over 6,000 quality after-school places for children attending primary school, as well as supporting parents to take up employment. Lack of access to affordable, quality childcare is a significant barrier to many low income and disadvantaged families when seeking to avail of work opportunities. There are currently in excess of 100,000 children being supported under the above programmes.
I recently launched three evaluation reports on the Early Learning Initiative and I am aware of the positive impact of this programme on children and families in the communities where this programme operates. However the priority for my Department is to ensure that the childcare support programmes that I have outlined above and in which considerable investment has already been made, continue to be delivered from quality settings and are available to the many children throughout the country that need them.
I was in a position to approve funding of €31,500 for this initiative from my Department's National Lottery allocation last year.
38. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on the impact that Budget 2013 has had on children and youth affairs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7318/13]
View answer188. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she considers Budget 2013 to have been coherent in its measures that impact on children and youth affairs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7480/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 38 and 118 together.
Budget 2013 provides for an allocation of €443 million for my Department. This level of funding represents an increase of €16m over 2012 allocation and consists of €417 million in current expenditure and €26 million in capital expenditure. In addition, Budget 2013 provides for €546 million in the Health Service Executive Vote (HSE) for 2013 in respect of Children and Family Services. This consists of €545 million in current expenditure and €1 million in capital.
The maintenance of the budgetary provision for child welfare and protection services at a time of wider curtailment in public expenditure reflects the priority attached by Government to this area. The potential provided by these resources will be further strengthened in 2013 through reform and the establishment of the new Child & Family Support Agency. This will involve moving the child welfare and protection services out of the HSE and creating a new statutory body which will also encompass both the National Educational Welfare Board and the Family Support Agency. Under the Government’s reform programme, we are moving to a situation where child and family welfare is the sole focus of a single dedicated State agency, overseen by a single dedicated Government Department
The funding allocated to my Department is providing for the retention of schemes and services during 2013, including retention of the universal free Pre-School Year, as well as the introduction of a number of important new initiatives and developments. These include: a new School Age Childcare initiative with full year funding of €14 million, which will provide over 6,000 after-school places for children in primary school to support parents in low-income families to take up employment; a new ‘Area Based Approach to Child Poverty’ initiative with a funding allocation in 2013 of €2.5 million; and the provision of €20.4 million in capital funding to further develop the National Children Detention Facility at Oberstown and end the practice of detaining 17 year old boys in St Patrick’s Institution.
The initiative relating to School Age Childcare is a joint initiative with my colleague the Minister for Social Protection. It is hoped to pilot the scheme in the coming months with a full roll-out from September 2013. The new scheme will augment my Department’s existing programme of childcare supports for low income parents, which with this additional funding will now amount to over €88 million. This programme includes the existing Childcare Community Subvention (CCS) and Childcare Education and Training Support (CETS) schemes. These are in addition to the universal free pre-school year which has a separate budget of €175 million. Extending childcare provision has been a key priority for me and this initiative shows how Departments are working together to deliver on this Government’s agenda to promote employment and to support children’s development.
The new Area Based Approach to Child Poverty initiative will build on and continue the work of the Prevention and Early Intervention Programme (PEIP) which supported projects in Tallaght, Ballymun and Darndale. These projects involve a range of pilot programmes to improve outcomes in areas such as literacy, speech and language, parenting, health and pro-social behaviour. We know that early intervention improves life chances for children and families. This is even more true in communities with high levels of disadvantage and joblessness.
I particularly welcome the provision in Budget 2013 of €20.4 million in capital funding, to enable the National Children Detention Facility project in Oberstown to proceed. Since assuming responsibility for the children detention system in January 2012, I have worked with my colleagues in Government on a range of actions to end the practice of detaining children in St Patrick’s Institution. The provision of new the facility in Oberstown, which is expected to be completed in 2015, will deliver all detention services for children in a single location which will maximise the scope for ensuring best practice standards and improving operational efficiency.
39. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on the full McCrystal judgement handed down last week in the Supreme Court; the reason her Department used €1.1 million of Exchequer funding to support the "Yes" campaign; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6999/13]
View answerThe judgement in McKenna stated that the Government has a duty to give information to the electorate as well as to clarify issues which may arise in the course of the campaign, and must do so without advocating a particular position. Governments have in fact carried out this role in other Referendums since the McKenna Judgement, including in the Lisbon and Stability Treaty referendums. The Government has welcomed the fact that the Supreme Court in the McCrystal Judgement has provided, for the first time since 1995, some guidelines on the application of the important McKenna principles.
In relation to the Children's Referendum, the Government aimed, through its information materials, to encourage the maximum public debate on, and participation in, the referendum. In doing so, it was conscious of an acknowledged gap in information that can attend referendums. The Government considered that in preparing information materials, it was paying appropriate regard to the McKenna principles.
In its Judgement of 11th December, 2012, the Supreme Court found that the Government at all times acted in a bona fide manner. It noted that not everything in the advertisements, information booklet and website was objectionable under the McKenna principles. However, the Supreme Court found that the cumulative effect of matters identified in these materials contravened the McKenna principles. The failures identified by the Supreme Court are fully acknowledged and greatly regretted.
40. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she has had any consultation with the Department of Health or the Health Service Executive regarding the reduced budgets in 2013 for two Dublin children's hospitals; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7327/13]
View answerI understand that the Deputy is referring to Our Lady`s Children`s Hospital, Crumlin, and the Children`s University Hospital, Temple Street.
The allocation of specific hospital budgets is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Health and the Health Service Executive to determine and I understand that the process of agreeing final allocations, within the resources available for the overall hospital sector, is still on-going. Allocations are subject to change as part of the normal budget-setting process and, in these circumstances, the Deputy will appreciate that it would be inappropriate for me to comment. However, I have been assured that no hospital will face an undeliverable target in 2013 and that the primary focus will be on delivering services within budget and managing service delivery risks effectively.
41. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs when the Early Years Strategy will be published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7321/13]
View answerMy Department is currently developing a new Children and Young People’s Policy Framework which will set out high-level goals for both my own and other Departments for the next five years. The Policy Framework is expected to be published in mid 2013 and will build on Our Children - Their Lives, Ireland’s first Children’s Strategy which was published in 2000. This is relevant to the National Early Years Strategy as the Strategy is one of three, more detailed strategies which will be developed under the Framework.
The Early Years Strategy, which will be Ireland's first ever national strategy for early years, is already under development and is expected to be completed and published later this year. It is expected that it will cover a range of issues affecting children in their first years of life such as health, including physical and mental development, vaccination programmes and population health issues such as nutrition and exercise, as well as parenting and family support, learning and development, play and recreation and early childhood care and education, including literacy and numeracy.
The Strategy will bring together and consider a significant amount of international and domestic research on the importance of early years for child development, including findings from the 'Growing up in Ireland' study. It will also be informed by the evaluations from the Prevention and Early Interventions Projects which have been funded jointly by my Department and philanthropic organisations, as well as an analysis of existing service provision and associated resources. The major programme of institutional change which is currently underway, including the establishment of the Child and Family Support Agency, will also be taken into account.
The results of a public consultation, undertaken as part of the development of the Children and Young People’s Policy Framework, is currently being analysed and will inform both the Framework and the Early Years Strategy. A further, focussed consultation with key stakeholders in relation to the Early Years Strategy, is also proposed.
I have appointed an Expert Advisory Group, chaired by Dr. Eilis Hennessy, Head of School of Psychology at UCD, to advise on the preparation of the Strategy. The Group comprises external experts from a range of specialties, including paediatrics, early childhood care and education, child protection and public health nursing and is continuing to meet on a regular basis. I have met the Expert Advisory Group on a number of occasions, most recently on 21 January 2013 and I am very satisfied with the progress made in developing Ireland's first Early Year's Strategy.
42. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the legislation she plans to progress in 2013. [7308/13]
View answerI have an extensive legislative programme to address child protection issues which fall within my remit as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs.
I published the Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2013 on 8th February and I will initiate it in Seanad Éireann later today. It will be brought before this House at the earliest possible date.
It is my intention to publish the Child and Family Support Agency Bill and the Children First Bill as soon as possible during 2013.
The General Scheme and Heads of Bill of the Adoption (Amendment) Bill were published in the context of the Children’s Referendum. On the signing of the certificate of the 31st Amendment to the Constitution it is my intention to publish this Bill and to present it to the Oireachtas.
In relation to the Adoption (Tracing and Information) Bill the General Scheme and Heads of Bill have been drafted and a number of policy and legal issues are currently under consideration. It is my intention to publish this Bill during 2013.
It is also my intention to progress the Children (Amendment) Bill during 2013. Work is progressing on drafting a General Scheme and Heads of Bill to amend the Children Act 2001. The main purpose of the Bill is to amalgamate the children detention schools in the interests of achieving efficiencies. It is my intention to submit the draft General Scheme and Heads of Bill to Government for approval as soon as possible.
43. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs when she expects the new Child and Family Support Agency to be operational; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7332/13]
View answerI am firmly committed to the transformation of Ireland’s child protection and welfare services, and to the establishment of a new Child and Family Support Agency. The Task Force on the establishment of the Child and Family Support Agency reported in July of 2012. The work of the Task Force informed the development of detailed legislative proposals to Government, covering a range of areas including the function and services to be overseen by the Agency, governance structures and implementation arrangements. Arising out of these proposals, the Government approved the Heads of the Child and Family Support Agency Bill and has also agreed to the priority drafting of this Bill. The Agency, upon establishment, will encompass services which are currently the responsibility of three separate agencies; namely the HSE, the Family Support Agency and the National Educational Welfare Board. The necessary legislative and organisational preparations are being prioritised so that the Agency can be established as soon as possible. Drafting of the Child and Family Support Agency Bill is at an advanced stage, in line with the policy decisions of Government. I anticipate that the legislation will be presented to the Oireachtas during the current term. A precise target date for the establishment of the new Agency will be set when consideration of the legislation is advanced.
While the legislative process is under way, all necessary organisational preparations are continuing in parallel. These preparations are being overseen by a high level group chaired by the Secretary General of my Department and involving representatives of the Departments of Health and Public Expenditure and Reform, the HSE and the incoming management team of the new Agency.
When established, the Agency will constitute one of the largest public agencies in the State with staff of over 4,000 employees. It represents one the largest and most ambitious areas of public sector reform currently underway. I am confident that the establishment of the Agency will bring a dedicated focus to child protection, family support and other key children’s services for the first time in the history of the State and will in time contribute to the transformation of what are essential services for families and communities.
