Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 23 September 2020
158. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration if his attention has been drawn to an issue (details supplied) being experienced by childcare providers; if he will address the issue as a matter of priority with Pobal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25842/20]
View answerThe National Childcare Scheme (NCS) was first launched in November 2019. There are currently over 28,000 children who are subject to a claim by childcare providers. This is the highest number of child registrations on NCS to date and in comparative terms more children are registered for my Department’s schemes overall than were registered at the same time last year.
The National Childcare Scheme is provided through the HIVE platform, which has been designed to meet the current and future needs of users.
My Department is not aware of any significant technical issues with the registration of children on the NCS system by childcare providers. A small number of issues have arisen which have been quickly resolved. Such issues are normal within any new system and are being ironed out as they arise.
Notwithstanding this, we are very aware that some providers have faced challenges in using the new system. The scheme is new and the IT system supporting it is new, and it is taking time for some providers to become familiar with the new requirements.
Pobal, the scheme administrator, will continue to enhance the system to ensure it is responsive to providers business needs and that it is tailored where possible based on feedback from providers.
My Department has already met with a number of representative groups to identify where our systems might work better or target where further support may be required.
Pobal will also be looking to engage with users based on their experience to see where further enhancement, training or support may be required.
Pobal continues to provide support and assistance directly to early years providers through their dedicated Early Years Provider Centre (EYPC) but they are currently experiencing a very high volume of calls, which may result in delays in our response times.
Pobal have taken urgent action to lessen this and have recruited and trained new staff. Pobal will be endeavouring to respond to providers as quickly as possible.
If the Deputy is aware of specific issues being experienced by individual providers I would encourage her to refer those providers to Pobal’s Early Years Provider Centre by contacting eypc@pobal.ie or calling 01 511 7222.
