Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 September 2021
422. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the steps he is taking to address the rise in closures of small and average sized childcare services since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44662/21]
View answerEvery year it is normal for some Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) services to close while other new services register with Tusla.
Services intending to close must notify the ELC/SAC regulator, Tusla. The most recent available data shows that the number of services notifying their closure to Tusla for the period of Jan-July 2021 is comparable to the same period in 2020 and is less than the number of service closures that occurred in Jan-July 2019. The overall number of service closures each year has remained steady, as has the number of new services registering with Tusla.
|
- |
ELC Closures |
ELC New Registrations |
||||
|
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
|
|
Jan - July |
112 |
105 |
91 |
34 |
28 |
14 |
|
Full Year |
196 |
197 |
n/a |
93 |
91 |
n/a |
Nevertheless, it is acknowledged that some early learning and childcare services do face difficulties and that this is sometimes the reason for closures. To avoid this, and to offer support with difficulties generally, my Department oversees a Case Management process through which local City/County Childcare Committees (CCCs) and Pobal work together to assess and provide support to early learning and childcare services experiencing difficulties. Pobal co-ordinate the overall case management process with the CCC administering on-the-ground case management assistance. This can include help with completing and interpreting analysis of staff ratios, fee-setting and cash flow, as well as more specialised advice and support appropriate to individual circumstances.
Financial supports, which may also be accessed through the Case Management process, are available for community services presenting with sustainability issues following a financial assessment by Pobal.
Normally, financial supports are only available for community services. However, there is a COVID-19 Impact Support funding strand available in 2021, which is for both community and private services. The funding will be available on a rolling basis throughout 2021 for eligible ELC and SAC services that require further financial assistance in addition to current support measures available and others that may be announced throughout the year.
The CCC should be the first point of contact for any service seeking support; I would therefore urge any SAC or ELC service in difficulty to contact their local CCC as soon as possible if they have not done so already.
