Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 June 2020
766. Deputy Chris Andrews asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the management and owners of a childcare facility (details supplied) are asking parents if they want the facility to not comply with the public health requirements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13224/20]
View answer767. Deputy Chris Andrews asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if a childcare facility can disregard the childcare health requirements in the provision of the service; if so, the consequences of a childcare facility that disregards public health requirements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13225/20]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 766 and 767 together.
It would not be appropriate for my Department or Tusla, the independent statutory regulator for early years services, to comment on individual cases of this nature.
In line with the provisions of Regulation 23 of the Child Care Act, 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations, 2016, all registered pre-school service providers have a statutory obligation to take all reasonable measures to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of children attending their service. This includes measures to prevent and control the spread of infectious diseases, including Covid-19, within their service.
Expert guidance on the safe reopening of childcare services during the COVID-19 pandemic, approved by the Expert Advisory Group of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), was published by the HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) on 29 May. The guidance recommends, amongst other measures, the use of a “play pod” model to restrict interactions between closed groups of children and adults as an alternative to social distancing, on the basis that social distancing is not possible between young children.
Working in conjunction with the Health Surveillance Protection Centre, Tusla has also prepared and issued guidance and a self-assessment checklist to all registered providers to assist them with complying with their regulatory obligations in the safe reopening of their services in line with ongoing public health measures.
Regulatory inspections which had been suspended as a result of the recent public health restrictions, are due to recommence in early July. During the initial resumption of inspections, Tusla will assess the procedures put in place by providers to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in line with their self-assessment checklist.
Tusla will work with providers to address any identified non-compliance through the inspection process in the first instance. As statutory regulator, however, Tusla retains the power to escalate findings of non-compliance to enforcement actions where necessary, in order to safeguard the health, welfare and development of children in early years settings.
Any concerns regarding the operation of an early years service, including concerns about infection control measures, can be notified to the Unsolicited Information Office of Tusla’s Early Years Inspectorate. All such concerns will be screened and assessed to determine if they fall within the remit of the Regulations. Such information will then be used to determine the focus and timing of inspections. Contact details for the Unsolicited Information Office are available on the Tusla website at: https://www.tusla.ie/services/preschool-services/where-to-get-advice-if-i-have-a-difficulty-or-a-complaint-about-a-service/
