Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire
Question:833. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the full-year cost of the affordable child care scheme, ACS, as currently modelled. [12028/17]
View answerChild Care Services Expenditure
Questions (833)
Written answers
The full year cost of the Affordable Childcare Scheme will be approximately €150 million. This new scheme will make childcare more affordable, and will enable both universal and targeted subsidies for parents towards their childcare costs.
Approximately 79,000 children will benefit from the new scheme in its first year including 25,000 children who will benefit from the universal subsidy. An estimated 54,000 will benefit from the targeted subsidies, including 31,500 children who already receive support under the current targeted subsidy schemes and 22,500 new beneficiaries. Some of the new beneficiaries will already be availing of formal childcare but without any financial support from the State, at present.
Under the targeted element of the scheme, the maximum income threshold ensures that all families within the bottom five income deciles that are using regulated childcare should receive some level of support. However, the scheme also provides a flexible platform for future investment, allowing income thresholds and subsidy rates to be adjusted over time so as to expand support to more families.
Child Care Services Provision
Questions (834)
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire
Question:834. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of children she expects to avail of the affordable child care scheme, ACS, in total and broken down between the targeted and universal schemes. [12029/17]
View answerWritten answers
Approximately 79,000 children will benefit from the new scheme in its first year including 25,000 children who will benefit from the universal subsidy. An estimated 54,000 will benefit from the targeted subsidies, including 31,500 children who already receive support under the current targeted subsidy schemes and 22,500 new beneficiaries. Some of the new beneficiaries will already be availing of formal childcare but without any financial support from the State, at present.
Child Care Services Expenditure
Questions (835, 836, 837)
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire
Question:835. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the full-year cost of the affordable child care scheme, ACS, in the event that the wage rate for educators is revised upwards from the current proposed wage rate to €11 an hour and there is a proportionate increase in managers' pay. [12030/17]
View answerDonnchadh Ó Laoghaire
Question:836. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the full-year cost of the affordable child care scheme, ACS, in the event that the wage rate for educators is revised upwards from the current proposed wage rate to €11.50 an hour and there is a proportionate increase in managers' pay to €14.78. [12031/17]
View answerDonnchadh Ó Laoghaire
Question:837. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the full-year cost of the affordable child care scheme, ACS, in the event that the wage rate for educators is revised upwards from the current proposed wage rate to €12 an hour and there is a proportionate increase in managers' pay. [12032/17]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 835 to 837, inclusive, together.
I thank Deputy Ó Laoghaire for his questions. They are of a similar nature and so, for the Deputy’s ease of reference, will be answered together in tabular form. An increase in staff wages to the “Living Wage” of €11.50 per hour, with managers’ wages rising proportionately to €14.78, would increase the average unit cost of provision for childcare providers. What impact this would have on the cost of the Affordable Childcare Scheme (ACS) would depend on whether and to what extent the ACS subsidy rates were amended to reflect the change in the cost of provision. There is no automatic link between the cost of provision and the overall cost of the ACS. Any change in the ACS subsidy rates would need to be carefully considered in the light of fee levels and the potential impact on the demand for childcare. However, if it is assumed that the ACS subsidy rates were changed on a proportionate basis in response to a change in the average unit cost of provision, and if there were no change in fee levels and no other change in the ACS, then, on the assumption that the full-year cost of the ACS will be approximately €150 million per year, the table below sets out estimates of how the full-year cost of the ACS would change as a result of the change in ACS subsidy rates.
|
- |
Staff wage(per hour) |
Manager’s wage (per hour), if it increased proportionately |
Increase in full year cost of the Affordable Childcare Scheme (assuming subsidy rates are increased in proportion to changes in unit costs) |
|
Current wages |
€ 10.79 |
€ 13.87 |
|
|
12030/17 |
€ 11.00 |
€ 14.14 |
€ 3m |
|
12031/17 |
€ 11.50 |
€ 14.78 |
€ 9m |
Child Care Services Provision
Questions (838)
Kathleen Funchion
Question:838. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of children that availed of centre based child care, both community and private, in 2016. [12150/17]
View answerWritten answers
Childcare registrations are recorded in line with the academic school year (September to June) and it is therefore not possible to provide the requested details according to the calendar year. Details of registrations, outlined in the following table, are provided for the academic years 2015/2016 and from September 2016 to date.
|
- |
No. of Unique* Approved Registered Children |
No. of Unique* Approved Registered Children |
|
Organisation Type |
2015/2016 (Sep 2015-June 2016) |
2016/2017 (Sep 2016 to date) |
|
Community/Voluntary Organisation |
43,764 |
46,435 |
|
Private Enterprise |
60,656 |
88,308 |
|
Grand Total |
104,420 |
134,743 |
*These figures include approved registered children attending a service at any stage during the academic years 2015/16 and 2016/17 (to date) under any of the current DCYA funded approved childcare programmes. Where a child attended more than one service or under more than one Programme during these periods they are only included once.
Child Care Services
Questions (839, 840)
Kathleen Funchion
Question:839. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of children anticipated to avail of targeted subsidies in the affordable child care scheme, ACS, scheme in year one; and the estimated cost for that number. [12151/17]
View answerKathleen Funchion
Question:840. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of children anticipated to avail of the universal subsidy in the affordable child care scheme, ACS, in year one; and the estimated total cost for that number. [12152/17]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 839 and 840 together.
The full year cost of the Affordable Childcare Scheme will be approximately €150 million. This new scheme will make childcare more affordable, and will enable both universal and targeted subsidies for parents towards their childcare costs.
Approximately 79,000 children will benefit from the new scheme in its first year including 25,000 children who will benefit from the universal subsidy. An estimated 54,000 will benefit from the targeted subsidies, including 31,500 children who already receive support under the current targeted subsidy schemes and 22,500 new beneficiaries. Some of the new beneficiaries will already be availing of formal childcare but without any financial support from the State, at present.
Under the targeted element of the scheme, the maximum income threshold ensures that all families within the bottom five income deciles that are using regulated childcare should receive some level of support. However, the scheme also provides a flexible platform for future investment, allowing income thresholds and subsidy rates to be adjusted over time so as to expand support to more families.
Child Care Services Funding
Questions (841)
Kathleen Funchion
Question:841. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the estimated cost of reinstating the childminding advisory service. [12153/17]
View answerWritten answers
In 2002, the Health Service Executive (HSE) agreed to fund a Childminding Advisory Officer post in each county, who would work with the City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs) funded under the Childcare Programme, implemented by the then Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Within the Department there are no plans to reintroduce the Childminding Advisory Service at this time and, as such, no cost analysis of reinstating this service has been commissioned. My Department has asked Childminding Ireland to chair a working group on reforms and supports for the childminding sector. It is expected that this group will produce a report for my consideration by the end of May 2017.
County Childcare Committees (CCCs), funded under the Childcare Programme, provide valuable services at local level and supporting the childminding sector is an integral part of their work. As a result, childminders have access to some level of support, training and advice.
My Department provides annual funding to each CCC to enable them to support and advise all childcare providers, including childminders, at local level. In 2016, the total amount allocated to the CCCs was €10.4 million. In addition, in 2016 my Department provided €250,000 to the CCCs for disbursement to eligible childminders by way of Childminding Development Grants. My Department also provides annual funding, totalling €2.44 million in 2016, to six national voluntary childcare organisations to provide support at a local level to their members. This included €340,000 for Childminding Ireland (CMI), the representative body for childminders. This national association supports quality development in family based care for children. It supports parents with childcare choices and concerns and also childminders.
In this context, my Department will await the recommendations of the working group and these recommendations will, inter alia, inform future policy in relation to the regulation of the childminding sector as a whole.
Child Care Services Funding
Questions (842)
Kathleen Funchion
Question:842. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the estimated cost over a five-year period of increasing her Department's agreed threshold of €47,500 of a household's combined income year on year for those five budgetary years by €500 per year, that is, year one increasing the threshold to €48,000, in tabular form; and the total cost over a five-year period for all households eligible for affordable child care scheme, ACS, subsidies. [12180/17]
View answerWritten answers
I wish to inform the Deputy that the maximum income threshold ensures that some level of subsidy is awarded to all low income families making use of regulated childcare, through including all families within the bottom five income deciles (that is, 50% of the population). It also includes the very large majority of current scheme beneficiaries, while “saver” provisions will ensure that any current beneficiaries with higher income levels are not negatively affected in the immediate transition to the new scheme.
In setting the base and maximum income thresholds, a number of factors were considered such as the poverty line, income distribution, disincentive effects, continuity with current targeted childcare schemes, and cost and cost effectiveness.
When costing the scheme, it was estimated that increasing the maximum income threshold to €52,500 would increase the total yearly cost of the scheme to an estimated €158 million. In other words therefore increasing the total annual cost of the scheme by €800,000 for every increase of €500 in the maximum income threshold as per table.
|
Maximum Income Threshold |
Total Cost for Year |
|
|
Year 0 |
€47,500 |
€150,000,000 |
|
Year 1 |
€48,000 |
€150,800,000 |
|
Year 2 |
€48,500 |
€151,600,000 |
|
Year 3 |
€49,000 |
€152,400,000 |
|
Year 4 |
€49,500 |
€153,200.000 |
|
Year 5 |
€50,000 |
€154,000,000 |