Written Answers Nos. 22-39
29. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration if he will expand the national childcare scheme to include children with varying degrees of disadvantage currently outside the definition of extreme vulnerability to ensure that specific, ring-fenced evidence-based supports are provided for in childcare settings to children in disadvantaged communities. [22248/20]
View answerI thank the Deputy for bringing forward this question as I feel this will be an important element of the ultimate funding model we move towards. I look forward to hearing her input more as that work progresses. The NCS is designed to be highly inclusive and to meet the needs of the most economically vulnerable children and those living with other forms of disadvantage.
It is based on the principle of progressive universalism and has regard to the best interests of children. It specifically targets families with varying degrees of economic disadvantage using information drawn from Revenue and the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection to calculate the amount of subsidy paid. Children of families with the least income get the highest subsidy.
The NCS is a significant step forward in combating the poverty traps inherent in previous childcare schemes. It removes many of the very restrictive eligibility requirements, which were previously linked to Social Protection payments for example.
Analysis of previous schemes informed its design and helps it incentivise work and training to combat poverty and inter-generational poverty and improve outcomes for children.
There is an important sponsorship arrangement within the NCS which offers additional supports for families with complex and challenging needs that early learning and childcare can help to address.
Where there is a referral from one of several sponsor bodies, the family will automatically qualify for a subsidy for the number of hours considered appropriate by the sponsor, up to 45 hours per week, without having to satisfy the scheme’s eligibility requirements.
In the coming months I hope to see the numbers of children availing of sponsorship increase as awareness rises.
I am working with my officials to identify whether any refinements to the NCS are needed to ensure that it delivers for those most in need.
In addition, work is progressing on a new funding model for the early learning and childcare sector which I hope will enable delivery of additional funding to providers to ensure greater levels of affordability, accessibility, quality and inclusion in their services.
It is my hope that the new funding model will introduce a model that will provide specific and additional support to children living with disadvantage.
32. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration the number of social workers hired by Tusla in 2020; and the number of those who were hired who are over and above the number who were replaced by social workers who retired or left their posts. [22320/20]
View answerAs of 31st July 2020, 187 new Social Workers have been recruited in 2020 by Tusla. At the same time 73 existing social workers have been promoted to more senior Social Work posts in Tusla. While these do not increase whole time equivalent numbers, they assist Tusla in ensuring supportive management and supervisory structures are in place for frontline staff.
During the same period, 13 Social Workers have retired and 74 have left the organisation. 17 of those who left did so on a career break.
I am pleased to say that this has resulted in a net gain of 100 Social Workers since the start of 2020. This is a welcome contrast from some previous periods where recruitment of Social Workers was matched or even exceeded by retirements and other departures.
Tusla has a rolling campaign for the recruitment of Social Workers and it also completed an initiative in April 2020 to convert Agency workers into contracted Tusla employees, which resulted in 140 Social Worker posts being filled.
The recruitment of Social Workers continues to be a challenge for Tusla in 2020. Tusla is one of many employers of Social Workers in Ireland and it is competing with other employments that are often perceived as less challenging.
Tusla finalised a Strategic Workforce Planning Model in 2019 which I understand will be rolled out over the coming years. I welcome the focus on recruitment and retention as part of the roll-out of the Strategic Workforce Implementation Plan, assisting staff well-being through the assessment of workplace stressors and critical incident exposure in the workplace.
The Social Work Education Group established by my Department in 2019 continues to provide a forum for Tusla and other stakeholders, including the HSE and the Probation Service, to explore and act upon possible actions to influence the future supply of social workers.
There is no single or simple solution to recruiting and retaining social workers but I am working closely with Tusla and I believe the Agency can make progress over time.
Finally I am always conscious that rather than focusing solely on Social Workers, we need to look at skill mix overall, and ensure that we have the right combination of professionals. Tusla’s strategic workforce model will increase and formalise the use of social care workers and ensure that Social Workers are supported by appropriate complementary grades.
The model envisages a gradual transition to multi-disciplinary teams consisting of the optimum mix of skills across social work, social care, therapeutic staff, family support, education welfare and administrative support.
35. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration the number of childcare providers that have not reopened; and if he is satisfied that each child that requires a place has access to one. [22316/20]
View answerIt is normal for some Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) services to close every year.
Services intending to close must notify the childcare regulator, Tusla. The most recent available data shows that 123 services notified their closure to Tusla for the period to 21 August 2020, while 39 new services notified their intent to open in the same period.
The number of services closing this year to date is actually slightly lower than the same time last year. 200 services closed in 2019 and 150 closed in both 2017 and 2018.
Services close for many reasons. A significant proportion of childcare services operate from the homes of childcare providers, and when these providers choose to retire, onward sale of the business can be very restricted. Others close for career or financial reasons.
For the 2020-21 programme year, 4,068 ELC and SAC services have already signed a childcare Funding Agreement with my Department and are open or intend to open in this programme year. This is already over 90% of last year’s numbers. I anticipate that additional services will sign Funding Agreements over the coming weeks.
Over the summer, despite many reports that services would not reopen, I am delighted to note that 94% of services did indeed open their doors.
I would like to thank and congratulate these providers for the hard work and commitment they showed to leading on the implementation of public health guidelines from June 29 and resuming their services for the benefit of children, families and indeed the economy.
My Department is not aware of any significant unmet need for early learning and childcare places since services began to reopen on 29 June. Indeed, due to lower parental demand, I am aware of many services that have vacancies.
If a parent is having difficulty in finding a place for their child, they should contact their local Childcare Committee for advice on childcare options in their area. Details can be found on myccc.ie
I am committed to continuing to work with the City and County Childcare Committees and representatives of providers to address any issues which may arise in the coming months.
37. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration the percentage of GDP that he hopes to achieve in terms of investment by the end of the term of this Government in line with the programme for Government commitment to increase investment in early years and school age childcare; and if he will increase investment year-on-year to achieve this goal. [22247/20]
View answerOver the past five budgets, investment in Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) has increased by 141% - rising from €260 million in 2015, to €638 million in 2020. Despite this progress, investment in the area remains low by international standards.
In their latest calculation of Ireland’s expenditure on early learning and care, the OECD includes an estimate of the cost of primary school for children aged under 6 years.
This is to account for the fact that many children in Ireland start primary school at an earlier age than in other countries. Using this measure, Ireland spends an estimated 0.5% of GDP on childcare.
If the cost of primary school for children aged under 6 is excluded, Ireland spends just 0.2% of GDP on this area, compared to the OECD average of 0.7%. Our spending also falls short of the UNICEF-recommended investment level of 1.0% of GDP.
It is important to note however that Irish GDP is seen as a poor point of international comparison and work is underway to provide more analysis using an alternative benchmark. That being said everyone acknowledges we need greater investment.
The First 5 Strategy, commits the Government to at least double public spending on early learning and care services by 2028. This doubling of investment would increase Ireland’s position by €574m or by approximately an extra 0.2 per cent of GDP. Every 0.1% increase in spending as a share of GDP would cost an estimated €339m per annum.
A key vehicle to ensure that such significant additional investment delivers optimally for children, families and the State will be a new Funding Model.
An Expert Group to develop the new Funding Model was appointed in September 2019. The group will examine how additional public funding can be used to deliver higher quality, more affordable, more sustainable and more inclusive services.
This important project is recognised in the Programme for Government. I am pleased that Expert Group recently launched a programme of consultation and I greatly look forward to receiving their report next year.
