Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 June 2020
620. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if areas in which childcare closures are occurring are being mapped; if areas of insufficient provision to meet demand are being tracked; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10366/20]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware childcare services were instructed to close on the 12th March and will remain closed until it is deemed safe to re-open by the National Public Health Emergency Team. Currently, the Government’s Roadmap sees Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare (ELC and SAC) services, and childminders, opening in phase 3 (29 June).
During this time of extended closure, a small number of services that have indicated their intention to close permanently are being tracked by Pobal’s Case Management team and forwarded to the relevant officials in the Department. In the majority of these cases, the decision to close is unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pobal Case Management team are working with Local CCCs to support these services in exploring alternative solutions where possible. However, the final decision on whether a service will close lies with the owner/operator of the service. Where closure is unavoidable, Pobal and the local CCCs will support services with managing an orderly closure and offer assistance to parents with finding alternative ELC/SAC services.
The provision of places within an area is knowledge which is retained by the Local CCC. When a service enters a Case Management process, one of the first pieces of information the Local CCC will gather is an assessment of the available places within the area.
Any service that is considering closure should notify their Local CCC immediately so that support can be provided and local capacity for childcare places can be assessed.
A number of supports were available before COVID to improve the sustainability of services during normal times, and these remain available now. Financial supports are available for community services presenting with sustainability issues following a financial assessment by Pobal. My Department has begun to consider whether this sustainability funding can be extended to private services during the pandemic. Again, all services who require support should contact their local CCC.
