Written Answers Nos. 156-162
156. Deputy Joanna Tuffy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will provide an update on the community child care subvention and the free preschool year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41887/15]
View answerThe Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) Programme supports disadvantaged parents, parents in low paid employment and parents in training or education, by enabling those who qualify to avail of reduced childcare costs at participating community/not-for-profit childcare services.
Due to economic constraints, Budget 2012 closed the CCS Programme to new applications from community/not-for-profit childcare services wishing to enter the CCS Programme and to the expansion of services by existing CCS providers. Under Budget 2016, I lifted these restrictions as part of a major package of strategic investment in affordable, quality and accessible childcare. This package included a further €16m investment in the expansion of the CCS Programme, to include its roll-out to private childcare providers, in a targeted manner.
CCS expansion will be rolled out in phases. Phase 1, which took effect in October 2015, lifted the expansion restriction within existing CCS services. Phase 2 expanded the CCS Programme to other community/not-for-profit childcare providers not currently under contract to deliver the CCS Programme. Phase 2 was announced on 10th November 2015 and applications are currently being processed. Phase 3 will come into effect in early 2016 and will make up to a further 8,000 places available in areas identified as being in significant need of CCS provision. Providers of these CCS places will include existing community not-for-profit childcare providers, and for the first time, private childcare providers where gaps in provision exist.
In recognition of the significant barriers childcare presents to parents wanting to take up employment, education or training, and the complexities of working through the different childcare programmes funded by my Department, the Budget 2016 package also funded the establishment of a dedicated Project Team to develop a single Affordable Childcare Programme to provide working families with good quality childcare at a cost they can afford. Work on the Affordable Childcare Programme will begin immediately, so that it can be in place in 2017. This single programme will replace the existing CCS, along with the Training and Employment Childcare (TEC) programmes, comprising the After-School Childcare (ASCC), Childcare Education and Training Support (CETS), and Community Employment Childcare (CEC). It will provide a new simplified subsidy programme, available through both community/not-for-profit and private childcare providers. As more investment is made available over the coming years, it can be directed to families through this subsidised programme. The objective is to make childcare more affordable for more families.
In Budget 2016 it was announced that, from September 2016, children will be eligible to start free pre-school when they turn age 3, and can continue in free pre-school until they start primary school (once the child is not older than 5½ years at the end of the relevant pre-school year i.e. end June).
Currently, children are entitled to one year's free pre-school (i.e. 38 weeks during the pre-school year) under the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. Until September 2016, it is current eligibility that determines access to free pre-school. A child who has already benefited from that entitlement in 2014/2015 will not therefore be eligible to re-register for free pre-school.
157. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs why the extension to the early childhood care and education scheme is not scheduled to commence in January 2016, rather than in September 2016; the amount of money that will be saved as a result; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41910/15]
View answerAt present, children qualify for the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme when they are within the qualifying age range which is 3 years and 2 months to 4 years and 7 months in the September of the relevant year.
The recent Budget decisions, which introduced an extended provision under the ECCE programme that allows children to access the free pre-school programme from the time they are 3 years of age until they start primary school, come into effect from September 2016. This extended provision, when fully rolled out, will mean that children will have access to free education - either in pre-school or primary school - from the age of three.
The start up date for the introduction of this new measure was decided so as to allow pre-school providers an adequate timeframe to make any necessary infrastructural or service changes and to put in place extra staff resources to accommodate the additional numbers benefiting from the programme, which is estimated to increase from 67,000 to 127,000 in a given programme year. The extension to this programme will cost an additional €47 million in 2016. The full year additional costs of this extended programme will be in the region of €114 million.
158. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs when he will announce the allocations to youth organisations arising from the additional €1.1 million current expenditure announced in the Budget Statement 2016 on 13 October 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41951/15]
View answer159. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs when he will announce the allocations to youth organisations arising from the additional €2.25 million capital expenditure announced in the 2016 Budget Statement on 13 October 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41952/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 158 and 159 together.
My Department administers a range of funding schemes and programmes to support the provision of youth services to young people throughout the country including those from disadvantaged communities. The funding schemes support national and local youth work provision to some 380,000 young people and involve approximately 1,400 youth work staff in 477 projects and 40,000 volunteers working in youth work services and communities throughout the country. In 2015, current funding of €49.78m has been provided to my Department for these schemes. Capital funding of €0.5m was also made available to my Department to support capital projects in the youth services.
I am pleased to advise the Deputy that Budget 2016 has provided an additional €1.1m in current funding to my Department to support the provision of youth services. This additional funding will be used for programmes that target disadvantaged young people and to assist national youth organisations in their work to support local voluntary youth services.
My Department has commenced work on the detailed allocations for the national youth organisations and local services and every effort is being made to notify youth organisations and projects of their 2016 allocation as soon as possible.
An additional €2.25m in capital funding has also been allocated to my Department in Budget 2016. In the main, this funding will be used to support smaller scale projects in local youth services, such as refurbishments, health and safety works, and accessibility improvements.
It is anticipated that details of the new capital funding scheme will be announced early in the New Year.
160. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the status of progress since the publication of the value for money review of youth programmes report in December 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41953/15]
View answerMy Department administers a range of funding schemes and programmes to support the provision of youth services to young people throughout the country including those from disadvantaged communities. In 2016, current funding of €51m will be provided by my Department for these schemes.
The Value for Money and Policy Review of the Youth Funding programmes 2014 examined three of the targeted funding schemes, the Special Projects for Youth scheme, the Young People’s Facilities and Services Fund, and the Local Drug Task Force projects scheme. The schemes support the provision of youth services for young people who are at risk of drugs, alcohol misuse, early school leaving, homelessness or who are living in disadvantaged communities. The review involved an in-depth scrutiny of a complex area to do with the impact youth service provision has in young people’s lives. Overall, the review found that the youth programmes can provide a significant contribution to improving outcomes for young people and should be considered for ongoing public funding. The review makes a number of recommendations for the future operation of the youth schemes and their development in the years ahead to ensure an evidence-based and outcomes focused programme designed to secure the optimal outcomes for young people.
I intend that the implementation of the recommendations in the review will commence over 2015 and 2016 and in the context of the roll out of the new National Youth Strategy 2015-2020 which my Department published on 8th October, 2015. My Department has initiated a detailed consultation with the youth sector and providers of youth services about the review's findings and recommendations. Consultations have taken place with the national youth organisation, local youth services and youth officers of the Education and Training Boards that administer funding on behalf of my Department, and with other youth interests. A number of regional events were held, an online forum was set up to facilitate discussion with youth service providers and young people were involved in the consultations that took place in the context of the National Youth Strategy.
The new Youth Employability Initiative which I announced in October, has been designed having regard to the recommendations in the review, in particular, in relation to targeting those young people who are most at risk of unemployment and ensuring that programmes to enhance their employability are outcomes focused. The Initiative, which is being funded by Dormant Accounts, will provide €600,000 in funding to voluntary youth services for programmes for young people who are not in education, training or employment. The learning from the Youth Employability Initiative will inform the development and operational arrangements for the new youth funding programme for disadvantaged young people recommended in the Value for Money and Policy Review.
My Department is committed to working collaboratively with the youth sector interests in the development and implementation of the new programme over the next two years.
161. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs when he will appoint a new national youth work advisory committee, following the completion of the term of the previous committee earlier in 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41954/15]
View answerSections 17 and 18 of the Youth Work Act 2001 provide for the appointment of a National Youth Work Advisory Committee. The Committee has an advisory and consultative role to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in matters to do with youth work, including the co-ordination of youth work programmes and services. In line with these provisions, a new National Youth Work Advisory Committee was appointed by the then Minister for Children and Youth Affairs with a term of office of one year with effect from 28 January 2013. The Committee continued to work with my Department and assisted with the development of the new National Youth Strategy, in particular in identifying in what ways the youth work sector can contribute to shared policy objectives for young people.
I launched the National Youth Strategy 2015-2020 on 8th October, 2015. The strategy sets out Government’s aims for young people, aged 10 to 24 years, so that they are active and healthy, achieving their full potential in learning and development, safe and protected from harm, have economic security and opportunity and are connected and contributing to their world. The implementation structures established by my Department under Better Outcomes Brighter Futures, the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People will oversee the roll out of the National Youth Strategy. There is no doubt that the youth work services have a significant contribution to make to realise the goals of the National Youth Strategy as part of a cross sectoral, whole of society approach to supporting young people in their everyday lives. For this reason, the key youth sector interests are represented on the structures established by my Department to support the implementation of Better Outcomes Brighter Futures. At national level representatives of the voluntary youth services have been appointed to the Advisory Council. At local level, youth sector representatives participate in the Children and Young People’s Services Committees. Key Government departments and agencies that have an interest in children and young people and that had served on the National Youth Work Advisory Committee are represented on the Children and Young People’s Policy Consortium and on the Sponsors Group that have been established under Better Outcomes Brighter Futures to drive the effective implementation of the policy framework.
There have been other significant policy and legislative developments that are relevant to the provision of youth services and the role of the National Youth Work Advisory Committee. These include, the setting up of the North South Education and Training Standards Committee for youth work and the introduction of the Education and Training Boards, Act 2013 which, inter alia, provides for a statutory function for Education and Training Boards in supporting the provision and assessment of youth work services at local level. At EU level, the Council of Ministers for Youth has adopted an EU Youth Strategy and has taken a number of policy initiatives to promote quality in the provision of youth work services. The National Strategy on Children and Young People’s Participation in Decision-making 2015-2020, which I published in June, 2015 is particularly relevant. I am deeply committed to ensuring that young people are involved in the preparation, planning and implementation of policies that impact on their lives.
My Department works closely with the youth work sector, the Education and Training Boards, other government departments and agencies and consults with young people themselves in the development and delivery of policies and services for children and young people.
I intend that the role of the National Youth Work Advisory Committee will be considered in the light of these developments and in relation the implementation arrangements in place to achieve our national strategies objectives and to secure the best possible outcomes for young people.
162. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the status of the European structured dialogue process in the youth field; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41955/15]
View answerThe EU Structured Dialogue process with young people aims to ensure that the opinion of young people is taken into account in the formulation of youth-related policies of the European Union. The process involves bringing together young people, youth organisations, youth representatives and policy-makers across the EU to jointly discuss issues affecting young people and feed into youth policy at national and European level.
The EU Structured Dialogue process with young people is managed on behalf of my Department by the National Youth Council of Ireland. It is overseen by the National Working Group which includes officials from my Department, youth workers, youth researchers and experts from the National Youth Council of Ireland.
Themes for the dialogue with young people are selected for eighteen month cycles. The current Trio Presidency of Italy, Latvia and Luxembourg which will conclude on December 31 2015, selected the theme “Youth Empowerment for Political Participation”.
I am advised that Irish young people made a very positive and purposeful contribution to the European Structured Dialogue process over the last cycle. During this time, over 1,000 young people in Ireland were consulted. Focus groups were held across the country and three youth delegates were selected to represent Ireland at each of the EU Youth Conferences held under the three presidencies.
I am advised that, at the EU Youth Conference in Luxembourg, held last September, a number of final joint recommendations were agreed upon which sought to empower young people for active participation in the political process across Europe. These included recommendations to strengthen the role of youth work for political empowerment of all young people and recommendations to increase synergies and co-operation between different actors. The recommendations were presented to the EU Council of Ministers for Youth, which I attended on 23 November 2015.
I am advised that work to advance these recommendations in Ireland will be progressed through a National Implementation Project which will be funded under the EU Erasmus+ programme in 2016.
The incoming Trio Presidency of the Netherlands, Slovakia and Malta has selected a theme of “Ready for life, Ready for the World” for the fifth cycle of Structured Dialogue which will begin in January 2016. The theme will focus on essential life skills and competences of young people in a diverse, connected and inclusive Europe for active participation in community and working life. The Structured Dialogue National Working Group has commenced preparations for the consultations with young people in Ireland which will commence in the New Year.
