Thursday, 18 Jul 2013

Written Answers Nos. 629-632

Child Care Services Provision

Questions (629, 659)

Richard Boyd Barrett

Question:

629. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if the Health Service Executive will withdraw notice given to childminders' advisers in most local health office areas; the alternative she proposes for the funding and LHO provision of networking, information, training and support, as well as links with parents to the estimated 20,000 to 37,000 childminders, minding children in ordinary homes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36193/13]

Robert Troy

Question:

659. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to help the childminding sector in view of the Health Service Executive's decision to abolish the childminders' advisory role. [36660/13]

Written answers

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

I propose to take Questions Nos. 629 and 659 together.

In 2002, the Health Service Executive (HSE) agreed to fund a Childminding Advisory Officer post or provide a staff member in each county, who would work with the 33 City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs) funded under the Childcare Programme, implemented by the then Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The role included notifying childminders of training opportunities, providing networking opportunities and supporting the voluntary notification system which was being developed by the CCCs. While Childminding Advisory Officers were established in most county areas, this was not always the case and they were not always located with the local CCC. Despite their presence and the additional supports including training, a small capital grant scheme and the introduction of a tax relief for childminding in 2006, the increase in the number of voluntarily-notified childminders since 2004, when the number was 500, has been relatively small and levelled off at 1,250.

In recent years, the HSE made a decision to gradually reduce the level of funding and support for the Childminding Advisory Officer posts. I would point to the fact that my Department continues to provide funding to the CCCs which are now well-established and effective bodies at local level, and that supporting the childminding sector is an integral part of their work. My Department also provides annual funding to the seven National Voluntary Organisations, including Childminding Ireland, to provide support at local level to their members. As a result, childminders continue to have access to support, training and advice. Work on the development of Ireland’s first Early Years Strategy for children aged from birth to 6 years, is already underway in my Department. My intention is to create an innovative and dynamic blueprint for the future development of Ireland’s early years sector and a coherent approach to seeking to improve the lives of children from birth to six years. One of the specific issues of policy which I have identified for consideration in the preparation of the new Strategy is the future role and regulation of the childminding sector, which is already an important component of early childhood care and education. I expect the Strategy to be published later this year.

Early Child Care Education Issues

Questions (630)

Seán Fleming

Question:

630. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of children currently availing of the free child care place for four year olds; the cost of the scheme; the approximate cost of extending it to entitle parents to two years of free child care; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36617/13]

Written answers

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

The free Pre-School Year in Early Childhood Care and Education programme was introduced in January 2010 and provides a free pre-school year to all eligible children in the year before commencing primary school. In line with the Programme for Government, my Department has made a significant commitment to maintaining this universal programme. It is expected that the programme this year will cost up to €175 million when all of the costs are taken into account. 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. No specific cost analysis has been commissioned in relation to the provision of a second free pre-school year. However, it is estimated that the additional costs of providing a second year would be similar to the costs incurred in providing the one year free pre-school provision. It is not anticipated that the participation rate in a second pre-school year would be as high as that currently experienced and on this basis it is estimated that the cost of the second year would be in the region of €150 million to €175 million. I have on a number of occasions emphasised my commitment and that of the Government to improving quality in pre-school services, and my Department and I are working on a comprehensive pre-school quality agenda. Improving quality represents an essential building block towards the extension of universal early years provision. Future developments relating to early years care and education are being considered in the context of the National Early Years Strategy for children aged from birth to six years, which is being developed by my Department and expected to be completed later this year.

Foreign Adoptions

Questions (631)

Kevin Humphreys

Question:

631. Deputy Kevin Humphreys asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will provide an update on progress towards an adoption agreement between Ireland and Ethiopia; when the Adoption Authority will complete its examination of the compatibility of the Irish and Ethiopian adoption legislation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35957/13]

Written answers

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

Work has been undertaken in terms of agreements on adoption from Ethiopia. Ethiopia is not a signatory of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. In these circumstances, future adoptions from Ethiopia would require a bilateral agreement between Ireland and Ethiopia. The negotiation of bilateral agreements on intercountry adoption with states who have not ratified the Hague Convention is governed by Section 73 of the Adoption Act 2010 which states that "the Authority, with the prior consent of the Minister, may enter into discussions with any non-contracting state concerning the possibility of the Government entering into a bilateral agreement with that State." The Adoption Authority delegation visit to Ethiopia in April of 2012 was an initial part of the Authority's deliberations on the feasibility and suitability of entering into discussions with Ethiopia on a bilateral adoption agreement. The Authority forwarded a report of their visit to me in May 2012. The Authority has also informed me that it has asked the Irish Embassy to make the appropriate contacts in the Ministry of Women's Affairs in Ethiopia with a view to verifying the stance of the Ethiopian authorities to entering into exploratory talks in relation to a bilateral agreement. The Authority has also sought and received advice on the legal compatibility of Irish adoption law with that of Ethiopia. the AAI legal advisors have considered this and certain clarifications are now being sought. The Authority will advise me of the position when all the information is available. I am aware of the commitment and effort the Ethiopian Government is making towards ratifying the Hague Convention on inter country adoption and this will be taken into account when considering options in regard to inter country adoption from Ethiopia.

Missing Children

Questions (632)

Tom Fleming

Question:

632. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will give a detailed progress report on the missing children's hotline; if she allocated adequate resources to deal with the issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35965/13]

Written answers

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

The 116000 Missing Children Hotline is an EU-wide initiative designed to provide a single point of contact across the European Union for missing children and their families. The number is currently operational in 23 EU countries and the number has been allocated and is soon to be operational in a further four countries, including Croatia, the newest EU Member State. In Ireland the 116000 Missing Children Hotline is operated by the ISPCC in liaison with a cross-sectoral Project Team, chaired by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. Funding for the operation of the line in Ireland is provided by my Department and the EU, through its Daphne funding stream. My Department provided €50,000 in 2012 and €88,000 in 2013 and the funding received from both the EU Daphne fund and from my Department includes; the establishment costs, national promotion and advertisement of the service. In common with all Exchequer funding, requirements for the operation of the service in future years will be considered in the context of the usual Estimates process. The Missing Children Hotline has been operating on a limited hours pilot basis in Ireland since December 2012 and on a full-time 24/7 basis since end April, 2013. The service was officially launched on 7 June 2013.

A key component of the service is a successful awareness programme. It is vital that those who could benefit from the service know that it exists and that users are aware of the scope of the service. During the initial set-up phase of the service, the ISPCC focused on community based promotion of the service. This included presentations to local community groups. Posters, flyers and business cards have been distributed to all Garda stations from Garda headquarters, and promotional material has been distributed to a variety of community based projects in various locations throughout the country. Further, the ISPCC has made extensive use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter to advertise this service on an ongoing basis. The successful launch of the service on 7 June 2013 also provided the opportunity to further promote the service. The 116000 Missing Children Hotline website, www.missingchildrenhotline.ie, has also been launched to promote the service. To date, an amount of some €35,000 has been spent on awareness measures. This amount will be doubled for further awareness measures in the remainder of 2013. It is important to note that the 116000 number is not an emergency number. Emergency calls should always be directed to the 999/112 number in the first instance, where the relevant emergency responses, including the recently launched Garda Missing Children Amber Alert mechanism, may be activated. The establishment of the 116000 line will, however, be of valuable support and assistance to families of missing children and to missing children themselves.