Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 October 2020
29. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration the way in which he will address ongoing issues with the HIVE portal system for childcare providers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31353/20]
View answerI ask the Minister to address the ongoing issues with the HIVE portal system for childcare providers. I have been contacted by very many providers who are having issues with this particular system, and if he would make a statement on the matter.
The HIVE is part of the new early years platform which Pobal uses to administer the various early learning and childcare schemes. It is a self-service portal which has been designed to be accessible, intuitive and meet the current and the future needs of service providers.
To date, for this programme year, September 2020 to August 2021, there are almost 130,000 children registered on the early years platform for the either the NCS or ECCE scheme so it is clear that a significant number of children have been successfully registered on the platform. However, it is a new platform and with any IT service there is a bedding in period. I am aware, particularly in early autumn, that it is taking time and energy for some providers to become familiar with the new requirements and that this came at a particularly challenging time as many of them were reopening in the Covid-19 context.
Pobal continues to provide support and assistance directly to childcare providers through its dedicated Early Years Provider Centre. It experienced a very high volume of calls. I accept there were delays and lengthy response times. I know Pobal has been actively trying to improve on that. I and my Department have been engaging with it on that particular issue. Some of the issues have been addressed. I am aware of that from correspondence I have received from childcare providers. My Department will continue to work with Pobal to enhance the system and ensure it becomes responsive to childcare providers' business needs. Pobal is continuing to engage with providers to determine the additional training it can provide to support them.
My officials will continue to engage with providers every time changes are made. I know from my own engagement with the sector that there were problems, particularly in September. My sense is that a significant number of those have been addressed and that Pobal was able to identify them but where specific issues arise I am always happy to engage directly with the Deputy.
As many parents will contest, when they find someone to look after their children, they want them to spend their time looking after their children and not dealing with administrative issues. Many people have come to me about problems with this system. One provider said she was discussing an issue where her bank details had been pulled, which made a particularly stressful period even more stressful. She said all of that would have been so much easier if someone had just answered the phone and that it could have been sorted out in real-time. She said that emails are taking five to six days for a reply and they may not even be able to help the issue when they do reply. She said that for weeks she kept getting emails saying the issue had been resolved when it had not. That is not acceptable. This issue has been raised over the past number of months with the Department. We need to support those providers, particularly at this time, and make sure that the systems we expect them to engage with are up to scratch and that they do the job they are meant to do.
I cannot disagree with anything the Deputy said. I am not making excuses but there is a context in terms of Covid-19 whereby a significant change is being made to a system. Training and significant online seminars were provided to providers but, understandably, many of the latter were focused on reopening, putting in place the Perspex screens and spending the capital grants we had given them to get their services ready for the return to childcare. There were delays in answering emails, and I am aware there was a definite issue with the phone. My sense from engagement with them is that many of those issues have been resolved at this stage. If Deputy Whitmore or any other Deputies know of situations where there are significant problems, they should let my officials know and we will try to address them. I know how stressful this period has been for childcare providers. They led the way back to reopening and we have to support them as much as possible.
I thank the Minister for that. If I get any more representations, I will certainly come to him. It was interesting that in the Crowe report this week the administrative issues and the requirements providers have to operate under were mentioned. The HIVE is just one example of that. I have spoken to providers who said that they spend a lot of time filling in documents and forms that then sit in a cupboard and no one ever looks at them again. That is not where we want our priorities, and those of the providers, to be. They should be caring for the children. Will the Minister examine the issue of the administrative load on those providers? He might review the amount of documentation they have to do, what happens to it, who uses it, its purpose and see whether some rationalisation can be introduced to make the system easier for them.
Part of the organisational review I spoke about earlier - the three pieces of work - is to look at the overall infrastructure, whether there are elements of duplication and how we can make the system better and more streamlined. Part of that work is ongoing and, in fairness, my Department identified that there are issues in that regard.
As regards the initial setting up in the HIVE, once a provider is established, they are established. There was a big piece of work to be done this year for many of them which will not need to be replicated because we have the system in place, but that is not to take from their distress. I have friends who are service providers who have been texting me to express their anger and frustration. I acknowledge the issues. Where they come up again I will be happy to do whatever we can to support Pobal while recognising that there are wider organisational issues that we are hoping to address through the current review.
