Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 July 2021
46. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he requested his departmental officials to conduct a review specifically into the continual discrimination of disadvantaged children through the under allocation of hours under the national childcare scheme, NCS, given comments he made during parliamentary questions in May 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36216/21]
View answerThis question relates to the review of the national childcare scheme, an issue I have raised a few times. Deputies are coming across continual discrimination against disadvantaged children under the allocation of hours through this programme. I ask the Minister to make a statement on the matter.
I have discussed this matter with the Deputy on a number of occasions. As she is probably aware, I recently contracted Frontier Economics to undertake a review of the national childcare scheme in line with section 26 of the Childcare Support Act. In conducting that review, I asked the company to give consideration to a complaint made against the NCS, as we discussed during oral questions previously, concerning the application of a work-study test, which determines the number of subsidised hours of early learning and childcare a child may be eligible for under the scheme. I do not believe the NCS and, in particular, the work-study test gives rise to discrimination in the way the Deputy suggests.
Under the NCS, children are provided with access to subsidised early learning and childcare that is at a level necessary to support positive child development outcomes regardless of whether parents are in work or study. Where parents are not engaged in work or study, the NCS subsidises up to 20 hours per week. Where parents are engaged in work or study, the NCS subsidises up to 45 hours per week. The definition of work or study is broad and covers all forms of work or study arrangements, including full-time, part-time, week-on, week-off contracts and zero-hour contracts. Moreover, the minimum hours required to engage in work or study to qualify for up to 45 hours per week is very low at just two hours per week.
The NCS also includes sponsorship arrangements that allow for additional support for vulnerable families where there is an identified need for early learning in childcare on the grounds of child development or child welfare. Already, external assessment by the OECD and the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, points to a range of benefits of the national childcare scheme, including a reduction for families in the cost of early learning and childcare and an increase in family incomes, with the most disadvantaged families experiencing the greatest gain. However, I have asked Frontier Economics to extend its research to review the activity test, which I know to be a feature of early learning and childcare schemes in other jurisdictions. I have also asked the expert group convened to look at the new funding model to consider the issue of childcare services in areas of disadvantage.
I am glad to hear the Minister's comments because they address the crux of the matter. We raised this issue in May, and I have raised it a number of times since. Following that, some services that had brought it to our attention tried to get in contact about the review. They were led to believe it was a one-year review of the whole NCS, which was not looking at the issue of potential disadvantage. I reiterate that the cohort of children we are talking about are those who will not necessarily come to the attention of Tusla. They are in an in-between category, for want of better words, of children who rely on childcare and early years services for a hot meal and security. It particularly relates to after-school care. We have had that conversation. A lot can be teased out through a review and if the Minister is now clarifying that this issue is being included in it, I welcome that.
Yes. I specifically asked for this issue to be included in the review. Although I am confident the NCS is designed in a way to lessen disadvantage, I am also cognisant, having listened to the Deputy and having met childcare providers, especially from areas of geographic disadvantage, that they have raised concerns, which I want to address. As the Deputy knows, I have done a number of things. We have engaged with Tusla to enhance the application of the sponsorship arrangements and I spoke directly to the chief executive to make sure sponsorship would be provided in a broad manner.
On information about how parents can access the higher number of hours, SOLAS, in conjunction with the education and training boards, ETBs, is providing better information on how parents can access various courses that will allow them to access the full 45 hours per week. I have made a commitment to review this particular issue in the context of the Frontier Economics review of the NCS. However, as regards the bigger piece, the funding group is also looking at the issue of disadvantage in childcare facilities and how funding can be targeted to address that.
This is the point I was trying to get to. I believed the issue had been clarified in May but question marks arose again afterwards. However, the Minister has made it very clear that the issue of disadvantage will be part of the review and I welcome that. As I said, it is about the children who will, potentially, fall through the cracks, which is what we are always trying to avoid. I say this regularly, but this is particularly the case with early year and childcare settings. It is not just about parents. We are all guilty of sometimes thinking that childcare equals parents working, but it is also about the children and all the various benefits to them from socialisation to security and everything they learn. I welcome that and I look forward to the review. Our next question will probably be about when we will get the results of the review, but I welcome it for now.
As the Deputy will know, it is early learning and care, with the emphasis on the early learning. On the review, I would expect it in the last quarter of the year. The review of the Child Care Act 1991 and, as significant, the report of the expert group are expected in the final quarter of this year. This is something I have been speaking about a great deal, although I did not initiate it. It was initiated by the former Minister, Katherine Zappone. The expert group is a really important group, comprised of eminent experts in the area of childcare from within Ireland and internationally as well. It will bring its report to the Government in light of its commitment to double investment in early learning and care in school-age childcare by 2028, as contained in the First 5 strategy. This is the body that will show us how we can ensure that the extra money we are investing gives us more services, better quality and can ensure that the workers in these services are paid appropriately and that parents are not paying so much as well. I look forward to publishing the expert group report. I am sure that once published, the Deputy and I will engage further on it.
