Anne Rabbitte
Question:768. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of subsidised places in child care available annually since 2011, in tabular form. [3756/17]
View answerChild Care Services Data
Questions (768)
Written answers
It is my understanding that the Deputy requires the number of children registered under the following programmes since 2011: the Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) programme and the three programmes collectively known as Training and Employment Childcare (TEC) - the Childcare Education and Training Scheme (CETS), After-school childcare (ASCC) and Community Employment Childcare (CEC). This information is outlined as follows:
Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) programme
The CCS programme provides funding to childcare services to enable them to provide quality childcare at reduced rates to disadvantaged and low income working parents. Parents qualify as disadvantaged or low income on the basis of means-tested entitlements.
Prior to its expansion in 2016, about 25,000 children could be catered for under the CCS each year.
Childcare Education and Training Support (CETS) programme
Under the CETS programme, childcare services are contracted to provide childcare places to qualifying Solas or Education and Training Board (ETB) trainees or students for the duration of their courses. In the region of 2,500 full time equivalent places can be catered for annually.
After-School Childcare (ASCC) programme
The After-School Childcare (ASCC) programme is designed to support low-income and unemployed people to take up a job, increase their days of employment or take up a place on a Department of Social Protection Employment programme. The programme provides between 300 to 500 places per year, depending on the mix between after-school and after-school with pick-up places.
Community Employment Childcare (CEC) programme
The Community Employment Childcare (CEC) programme is targeted specifically at participants in the Community Employment (CE) schemes operated by the Department of Social Protection. The programme provides pre-school places for children up to the age of 5 and after-school places for primary school children up to the age of 13.
The CEC programme can provide in the region of 1,800 places per year.
Child Care Costs
Questions (769)
Anne Rabbitte
Question:769. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if her Department has commenced the independent review of the cost of providing quality child care in private and community settings; and the expected date of its completion. [3758/17]
View answerWritten answers
Given the importance of financial sustainability for the provision of quality childcare, the Programme for Government committed to conducting and publishing an independent review of the cost of providing quality childcare in Ireland. This commitment aligns closely with work on the development of the Affordable Childcare Scheme, including options for further development of the Scheme over time, and initial scoping work on the independent review is being progressed in that context.
Department officials are reviewing previous published research and analysis on the cost of childcare provision, are assessing available data sources and are scoping the precise requirements for the independent review. Issues that the review may consider include (1) the total average cost of quality childcare provision, (2) variation in cost and the reasons for same, (3) the link between cost and quality, (4) the cost of providing childcare services in disadvantaged communities and (5) the likely impact of future cost pressures, including the ongoing professionalisation of the sector.
The independent review is a priority action for the Department in 2017.
Programme for Government Initiatives
Questions (770)
Anne Rabbitte
Question:770. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the status of the national parenting support plan that was promised in the programme for partnership Government document; and the date by which she expects this plan to be published. [3759/17]
View answerWritten answers
A number of wide-ranging measures relating to parenting support have recently been introduced. My Department published a High Level Policy Statement on Parenting and Family Support in 2015. The Statement sets out 29 policy messages around improved interagency working, workforce development, information and evidence to inform the targeting of resources, integration of service planning and delivery, and partnership with children and their parents. It also underscores the importance of developing cross-agency coordination of services to children and their families.
The Child and Family Agency’s Parenting Support Strategy aims to ensure that there are appropriate supports and services available to parents within their community; that these services are accessible and friendly and that supports are available to parents at all stages of their children‘s development.
Together, these provide the context for the extensive work of the Child and Family Agency in the area of family support including the work of its Prevention, Parenting and Family Support (PPFS) teams which are currently being rolled out at local level to support a standardised approach to the provision of family support. In addition, the planned Early Years Strategy currently in development by this Department will provide an opportunity to consolidate commitments and initiatives relevant to parenting support for parents of the 0-6 age group.
I understand that the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre is currently researching and evaluating Tusla's Development and Mainstreaming Programme for Prevention, Partnership and Family Support. I look forward to the outcome of this work which will inform future developments in this area, including the development of a National Parenting Support Plan.
Child Care Services Provision
Questions (771)
Anne Rabbitte
Question:771. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the measures her Department is taking to broaden parental choice for child care; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3760/17]
View answerWritten answers
My Department is committed to the provision of childcare options for families that respect parental choice and reflect international evidence on how to attain the best outcomes for children. While operational responsibility for parental leave does not come under my Department's remit, I do support its extension for parents; particularly in the crucial first year. The Government has provided additional support for stay-at-home parents through the home carer tax credit, which has been increased to €1,100 per year. I also support an increase in the earnings threshold for this, and have raised this with the Minister for Finance.
On 28th October, my officials launched a public consultation on the new Affordable Childcare Scheme for Ireland. The consultation is focused on the details of the new scheme, as set out in the published policy paper, and is intended to inform the further refinement of the scheme in advance of its implementation in September 2017.
I would like to stress that my Department is very much open to hearing views about supports for parents raising children at home, while also ensuring that the measures announced recently are implemented with the needs of children and their parents to the fore. The Affordable Childcare Scheme responds to a specific need to increase the affordability, quality and supply of early years and school-age care and education services in Ireland. It also reflects a core recommendation of the 2015 Inter-Departmental Group on Future Investment in Childcare in Ireland to replace the existing targeted childcare schemes, which are administratively complex and inadequate in terms of accessibility, with a single, streamlined and more user-friendly scheme.
It is important to recognise that the Affordable Childcare Scheme is only one element of a broader set of commitments and supports aimed at parents and children. Although the provision of improved services for centre-based care is very important, we will not lose sight of the needs of children who do not attend them. In this regard, Better Outcomes Brighter Futures: The National Policy Framework for Children and Young People contains a commitment to produce Ireland’s first-ever National Early Years Strategy. The intention is to deliver a cross-cutting strategy which will take a joined-up, whole of Government approach to the issue of supporting children and their families during the early years (0-6 years). The drafting of the National Early Years Strategy is very advanced and an Open Policy Debate on the strategy was held on the 7th December 2016 with a view to publication shortly thereafter.
I, and the wider Department, believe that we need to develop the quality, affordability and accessibility of centre-based care, and that achieving this should not affect the supports that we can offer parents who opt for other forms of care for their children.
In this regard, my Department is committed to reviewing future policies, and liaising with other Departments, to ensure that options for childcare provision respect parental choice.
Area Based Childhood Programme
Questions (772)
Anne Rabbitte
Question:772. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the measures she is taking to support and expand the ABC scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3762/17]
View answerWritten answers
The Area Based Childhood (ABC) Programme is a joint prevention and early intervention initiative led by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. The ABC Programme commenced in 2013 and is a time-bound co-funding arrangement of €29.7m for the period 2013 to 2017 in conjunction with The Atlantic Philanthropies. Due to contractual arrangements, each of the existing 13 sites are scheduled to come to the end of their contracts at various points throughout 2017. My department secured an additional €4.5million in Budget 2016 to extend all of the existing ABC Programme to the end of December 2017 bringing the total investment to €34.2 million.
A key purpose of the ABC Programme is to identify the learning in and across the ABC sites and to transfer this learning into existing and established services, in order that we can ensure a greater reach and sustained impact in services across the country. The aim of this is to ensure that rather than creating parallel provision, the learning from this programme informs the ongoing reform of established services and supports for children and young people in the areas of Health, Education, and Social Services. Mainstreaming the learning in this way will bring improvements, not only in specific areas, but across the wider system, thereby addressing all areas of disadvantage.
The extension of all sites to the end of 2017 will provide all sites participating in the ABC programme with additional opportunities to evaluate their activities and focus on mainstreaming the interventions and programmes that make a real difference to children’s lives. This extension also brings the existing ABC programme closer in line with the expected timeline for delivery of the national evaluation report in 2018. The purpose of the national evaluation is to assess the impact and implementation of the ABC Programme nationally, which will be crucial in charting future developments.
My department is currently reviewing the emerging learning from the programme in terms of design and implementation. We will utilise these learnings and the findings from the national evaluation to design future community based prevention and early intervention initiatives to meet the Programme for Government commitments.
As another key step in this regard, my department will hold an open policy debate on the existing and emerging learning from the ABC programme. This event will be on 14 February and will include the range of key stakeholders involved in this valuable work.
Child Care Services
Questions (773)
Kathleen Funchion
Question:773. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to tackle the ongoing issue of high commercial rates within the child care sector for private operators in view of the fact that rates bills being received currently for 2017 are up from 40% to 80% in some areas compared with 2016; and her views on whether this is not sustainable and will result in a negative impact on the child care infrastructure if pursued. [3805/17]
View answerWritten answers
It is my understanding that the valuation/rating code as it applies to early childhood care and education facilities was last altered following the commencement of the Valuation (Amendment) Act 2015 in June 2015.
In summary;
1. Group 1 type facilities referred to in the correspondence are exempt by way of Paragraph 22 Schedule 4 Valuation Acts 2001- 2015 which provides for the exemption of a building used exclusively for the provision of early childhood care and education and occupied by a body which is not established and the affairs of which are not conducted for the purpose of making a private profit i.e. a not for profit organisation.
2. Group 2 type facilities are exempt under Paragraph 10 Schedule 4 Valuation Acts 2001- 2015 on the basis that the facility is used exclusively for the provision of educational services (ECCE) only.
3. Group 3 type facilities are essentially businesses established for the purpose of making a private profit and are therefore rateable.
There are also a number of early childhood care and education facilities which are exempt under Paragraph 16 Schedule 4 Valuation Acts 2001- 2015 on the basis that the facility is occupied by a charitable organisation and used exclusively by that body for charitable purposes.
My officials will be arranging to meet with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to discuss the issue of commercial rates for early years services shortly.