Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 July 2015
2. Deputy Sandra McLellan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs his plans to implement a system of registration, inspection and support for childminders in order that they do not have to work in complete isolation, as is the case currently; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27551/15]
View answerI wish to ask the Minister what are his plans to implement a system of registration, inspection and support for childminders in the State so that they do not have to work in complete isolation, as is the current situation.
I thank the Deputy for her question. Childminders play a very important role in the care and protection of children. At present, childminders who mind four or more unrelated preschool children must notify Tusla and are inspected by the agency. The statutory notification process is set out in the 2006 child care regulations. As of April 2015, just 154 childminders had been notified to the Child and Family Agency. I am preparing revised child care regulations which, when commenced, will replace this notification system with a new registration system. This will cover childminders with four or more unrelated preschool children.
Childminders who mind three children or fewer are not currently required to notify or register with Tusla. However, they are encouraged to register their service voluntarily with their local city or county child care committee, CCC. According to Pobal, the number of childminders who are not subject to the regulations but who voluntarily notified their service to the CCCs in 2014 was 749.
A range of supports are currently in place for childminders. For example, my Department provides annual funding of €340,000 to Childminding Ireland. It also funds childminding development grants, amounting to €250,000 in total, which are distributed annually by the county child care committees, CCCs. In addition, childminders taking care of three or fewer children under the age of 18 may be entitled to avail of the child care services relief from the Revenue Commissioners, provided their annual childminding income comes to no more than €15,000.
It is likely that the interdepartmental group on future investment in early years and after-school care and education, which I established in February this year, will consider further supports for childminders as part of its work. This interdepartmental group, which is tasked with setting out a range of options for current and future investment, will consider options to enhance affordability, increase the accessibility of provision and build the quality of provision of early years and school-age care and education. The group is expected to submit a series of recommendations shortly.
I thank the Minister for his reply. It is estimated that approximately 50,000 young children are being cared for by paid non-relative childminders. Of the estimated 19,000 childminders, less than 1% are registered with the HSE or Tusla. We need to be moving towards a system of registration, inspection and support so that childminders are supported in their work. Currently, the voluntary notification system asks that childminders who mind three children or fewer are not required to notify the HSE and be inspected but may notify their local city or country child care committee or childminder adviser of their service. This is a voluntary notification process as set out in the 2008 national guidelines for childminders. Voluntary notification states that childminders benefit by gaining access to a range of services and supports through their local city or county child care committee and childminder advisers, including information networking and training, as outlined by the Minister.
Does the Minister believe that voluntary registration by childminders is a realistic and reasonable requirement, in light of the cutbacks in support for childminders? Does he agree that this voluntary system creates a two-tier system of regulation?
As I said in my reply, it is accurate to say that childminders who are looking after three or fewer unrelated children do not have to register, but they are encouraged to do so voluntarily. We will need to take an incremental approach. Childminding is governed by the Child Care Act 1991 and the Child Care (Pre-School Services) (No. 2) Regulations 2006. The national guidelines for childminders were published to assist childminders by providing guidance for good practice in the area. Considerable sums have been made available to support childminders. There is a also a grant for childminding development. This grant provided funding of €1,000 to childminders to assist them with the purchase of materials to help them improve the quality of services available to children in their care. The national childminder initiative provides support for childminders and people interested in becoming childminders and it is implemented locally by the city and county child care committees. A first step for any person who wishes to become a childminder is to contact the local child care committee, CCC, to avail of its quality awareness programme.
Report and Final Stages of the Children First Bill will be taken in the House this week. The Bill addresses the issue of childminders, and this was debated on Second Stage and Committee Stage. I ask the Minister to clarify whether sanctions will be imposed on professionals who fail to comply with the Bill. Are monitoring mechanisms in place for reports to be received and how will these be dealt with? Will there be demands for audits of child safety statements? Childminders are still exempt from having to report, as only those providing an early years service under the meaning of the Child Care Act 1991 are included. Will the Minister comment on these points and indicate the anticipated commencement of the Children First Bill?
The Deputy has asked quite a lot of questions which I do not think I can deal with in the short time remaining to me. I reassure her that Report and Final Stages of the Children First Bill will be taken in the House tomorrow and this will provide an opportunity to discuss these matters, which were discussed at some length. I note the concerns expressed by the Deputy and her party colleagues about childminders and I have addressed those concerns previously. The auditing of facilities would represent a huge volume of work and would be a draw on resources for the agency. In our view, that money would be better spent on providing services to children. We have made provision in the Bill to have registration and the right for Tusla to inspect pre-registration. If there is a failure to allow a pre-registration inspection then the premises would not be registered. I thank the Deputy for allowing me this opportunity to state that when this provision is enacted, an advertising campaign will advise parents that there should be a child safety statement in place, and if this is not available then it is not a facility to which parents should send their child, and they should report it to Tusla.
