Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 July 2013
657. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if a completed annual return by early childhood settings outlining the number of children and the age brackets; the number of staff and their relevant qualification are not a qualifying condition for payment of grant. [36658/13]
View answerI assume that the Deputy is referring to the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme which provides for a free pre-school year to all eligible children in the year before they commence primary school. Almost every pre-school service (more than 4,300) in the State is participating with over 68,000 children, or 94% of the eligible age cohort, availing of free pre-school this year. Children are eligible to avail of the free pre-school year where they are aged more than 3 years 2 months and less than 4 years 7 months at 1 September in the relevant year.
It is a requirement that service providers who are participating in the ECCE programme submit a return to my Department which gives details of children who, during one 'snap shot' week at the commencement of the school year, are enrolled for the programme. The PPS number for each child is then verified with the Department of Social Protection before payment is made.
The ECCE programme introduced the first-ever requirement for minimum qualifications for staff working in the childcare sector. The current requirement under the programme is that the pre-school leader delivering the pre-school provision must hold a qualification in childcare/early education at a minimum of Level 5 on the National Framework of Qualifications of Ireland (NFQ), or an equivalent nationally-recognised qualification or a higher award in the childcare/early education field. Therefore the qualification details of staff providing the ECCE programme are also required as part of the return made by the provider.
I propose to increase the qualification requirement for pre-school leaders from Level 5 to Level 6 for new services from September 2014, and from September 2015 for existing services.
It is a condition for childcare services participating in the ECCE programme that they adhere to the terms and conditions of the programme and also undertake to comply with all relevant legal and regulatory requirements which include planning legislation, employment legislation, health and safety legislation and data protection requirements. Only services which meet the standards set out in the Regulations and undertake to comply with the terms and conditions of the free pre-school scheme are permitted to participate in the ECCE programme.
