Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 May 2017
9. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the progress to date in advancing the new affordable child care scheme; the timescale for its introduction; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22318/17]
View answerQuestion No. 9 is in the name of Deputy Brendan Smith. The Ceann Comhairle's office has informed me that Deputy Eugene Murphy will ask it.
I ask the Minister, on behalf of Deputy Brendan Smith, the progress to date in advancing the new affordable child care scheme, the timescale for its introduction and if she will make a statement on the matter.
I recently announced a range of measures that will be introduced this September to make child care more affordable for thousands of families throughout Ireland. This honours a key commitment in the programme for Government.
I am putting in place measures to ensure that parents of up to 70,000 children due to benefit under the affordable child care scheme will be given the opportunity to avail of increased subsidies from September. This will be achieved by significantly increasing the subsidy rates for the community child care subvention and the training and employment child care schemes, in some instances by as much as 50%. There will also be a new universal, non-means-tested child care subsidy that will benefit parents with children between the ages of six months and 36 months.
These measures mean that the families of up to 70,000 children can look forward to benefiting from increased child care subsidies starting from this September. There will be a public information campaign late in May for parents and providers and a new website outlining the measures being introduced in September will launch shortly.
I remain strongly committed to introducing the promised affordable child care scheme. My Department has made good progress in this regard. The Government has approved the heads of Bill for the scheme, and officials are working intensively to plan for the successful implementation of the scheme. However, I am conscious that this is a complex project which we must get right from the beginning. We need to have the legislation, business processes and a new robust IT system in place. We will need to test the scheme rigorously to ensure it works properly so that families can quickly see their entitlements.
I have already referred to the fact that I am hopeful that the Bill on the affordable child care scheme will be published before the summer recess. I cannot guarantee this but the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and my Department are working very hard to make it a reality before mid-July.
My officials are working as quickly as possible but I believe it is prudent to take time to ensure we get the new systems right so that they operate smoothly for everyone.
I thank the Minister for her comprehensive and detailed reply. I am concerned that the information technology system will cause a delay in payments under the scheme. While I have no doubt the Minister is making every effort to achieve her objective of commencing these necessary measures by September, it appears that a further malfunction in the IT system will mean the new scheme will not start operating in September. This scheme is important for community child care programmes. While I accept the Minister's point regarding the Bill and having certain measures in place by September, it is time to consider plan B. I welcome the decision to have an independent review but it appears that it will not commence until late in 2017. Why can the review not commence now?
Figures show that the cost of child care is very high. Families in Ireland spend 34% of their income on child care, which is double the European average. It is very important that the scheme is up and running as quickly as possible.
Let me be perfectly clear on this issue. From 2017, the majority of eligible families will benefit from significantly increased subsidisation of child care costs. From September, the promise of a subsidy for children under the age of 36 months will be kept. Families with one or more children under the age of three years who wish to use regulated child care services will be able to avail of a universal subsidy of up to €1,000 per annum. We are also introducing targeted measures of support which significantly increase the subsidy available towards the costs of child care. This subsidy will almost reach the level of the threshold of income that we identified originally in respect of the affordable child care scheme. However, the scheme will be accessed by parents and families a little differently from the way in which we had anticipated. The money is available, however, and parents will be able to avail of significantly increased State support for child care. The Department will roll out an information campaign on how to access the scheme.
I thank the Minister for clarifying some aspects of the question I asked. As she is aware, community employment workers play a major role in running child care facilities in urban and rural areas. While I understand from where the Minister is coming, there should be a role in the system for community employment workers. Will the Department introduce a training scheme to enable these staff to continue to work in community child care facilities? This issue will create a major problem and must be addressed. Community employment workers fit into child care services very well and work well in them. Will the Minister consider ways of using these community employment workers?
My officials and I have deep concerns about community child care services, especially those which employ community employment workers. The Department has put in place a number of actions and supports for particular services that are finding their sustainability challenged. I hope these supports, which will be available in 2017 and 2018, will effectively assist all the services as they engage with departmental officials and the county and city child care committees. I fully support community employment workers. They could continue to work in their current roles in child care services in the context of the supports we are providing. I am engaged in ongoing discussions with the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Varadkar, on community employment in child care.
