Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 November 2021
429. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the specific arrangements he is putting in place to assist childcare operators in the voluntary and in the private sectors to manage the current phase of Covid-19 and Covid-19 regulations and the consequences for staff in their operations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58798/21]
View answerPublic health experts have confirmed that Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) services may continue to operate during the current phase of Covid-19. While no environment is without risk in relation to Covid-19, and this has been the case throughout the pandemic, services can significantly reduce their risk level by closely following the expert guidance provided by the HSE, which was prepared specifically for ELC and SAC services by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).
On November 26th, my Department issued a HSE memo to ELC and SAC providers informing them of the latest HPSC guidance along with guidance for testing and close contacts. Updated guidance has also been made available to service providers via my Department’s 'First5' web-page.
In an effort to assist services through the pandemic, my Department has provided a number of supports, including the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), which has been available to employers in the sector since August 2020 with an exemption to the requirement for other employers to demonstrate a 30% drop in turnover.
For over a year, between October 2020 and November 2021, EWSS has been paid at enhanced rates. This amounts to an investment of €34 million per month in the sector and is estimated to cover, on average, 80% of staff costs and 50% of operating costs.
EWSS is due to revert to standard rates between December 2021 and February 2022. This will amount to an investment of €22 million per month in the sector and is estimated to cover, on average, 50% of staff costs and 38% of operating costs.
The additional cost of operating play-pods and other public health measures is estimated to be €12 million per month. This indicates that there has been very substantial funding of the sector, and this funding remains in excess of what is required to adhere to public health guidance.
Support is also available to concerned services through Case Management. 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 ELC and SAC services experiencing difficulties. The case management process 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.
A Covid-19 Impact Support funding strand is available in 2021, for both community and private services. The funding is 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.
Local CCCs may be reached out of hours as well as during business hours. In February 2021 my Department established a national Covid-19 out-of-hours helpline which is hosted by the CCCs. The purpose of this helpline is to provide weekend support to ELC and SAC providers who have a suspected or confirmed case of Covid-19 in their service. The 30 CCCs, funded by my Department, are available to provide support and guidance to ELC and SAC providers in respect of a broad range of Covid-19-related matters. The out-of-hours national helpline is an extension of this support for the sector.
I have also convened two sub-groups on the Early Learning and Childcare Stakeholder Forum - A Covid-19 Sub-Group and a Workforce Recruitment and Retention Sub-Group - to provide an opportunity for information-sharing and discussion between my Department and key stakeholders on Covid-19 issues facing the ELC sector during the current period of high rates of Covid-19 cases and on possible responses, including the planned introduction of antigen testing of close contacts in ELC and SAC, similar to the programme in primary schools.
