Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 3 February 2022
117. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the details of progress that has been made in installing high-efficiency particulate air, HEPA, filters in childcare centres, preschools and crèches; his plans to complete the process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5410/22]
View answerI am asking this question on behalf of Deputy Bríd Smith. The Minister will be aware of the very high rates of Covid infection that continue among children, particularly those between zero and five years of age. During the week, I got figures about the levels of hospitalisation, which are strikingly high for those aged between zero and five. This is understandable as they are the one category not vaccinated. What progress is the Government making in getting HEPA filters installed in childcare centres, preschools and crèches to provide protection for both staff and children?
In December of last year, I announced a €10 million grant programme to improve ventilation and reduce the transmission of Covid-19 in early learning and childcare settings. This provided services with grants ranging from €1,500 to €4,500. The rental or purchase of HEPA filters is among the items of eligible expenditure under this grant programme and guidance has been provided on the HEPA filters that are suitable for use in childcare settings. The grant programme opened for applications on 16 December. The original closing date of 7 January 2022 but we extended it to 31 January 2022 so that as many services as possible could avail of this grant. Some 4,109 services have now applied the grant which means that 95% of eligible services have made an application.
That €10 million grant programme is just part of a suite of supports provided to the early learning and childcare sector since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Other supports include tailored funding arrangements during periods of closure and restricted access to services, a range of capital programmes, an antigen programme, sector-specific infection prevention and control guidelines and access to the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, with an exemption to the turnover rule. The provision of the EWSS at the full rate is equal to an investment of €34 million per month. The value of EWSS at standard rates is equal to an investment in the sector of €22 million per month. That additional money has allowed for sector-specific public health guidance to be implemented. The most important aspect of this is the play pod system that has been implemented since the beginning of the pandemic.
There is strong evidence that these Covid-19 supports are helping and supporting the early learning and care sector. Recent Tusla data show that the number of early learning and childcare settings that closed completely decreased significantly in 2021 compared with the previous two years. Data from the Revenue Commissions show that the number of staff employed in the sector has held steady. HSE data show that the rates of transmission within early learning and childcare settings have remained low compared with rates of community transmission.
There is one vital piece of information I do not think was contained in the Minister's answer and that I would be interested in getting, that is, how many of the crèches and other childcare facilities have HEPA filters installed. That is key information the Government and the Minister absolutely must have. We know from Health Protection Surveillance Centre, HSPC, figures released this week that there were 251 outbreaks of Covid in childcare settings during waves 4 and 5 and that seven of those outbreaks took place in the first four weeks of this year. The figures I have got from the hospitals state that in Temple Street hospital there are 25 children under five compared with nine children aged five to 11 and that in Crumlin there are 60 children aged between zero and five compared with 24 between six and 11. We know that temperatures are likely to drop again in winter. In circumstances in which there is no filtration, the only protection people have is to have the windows wide open, whereas with filtration systems the windows still need to be open but can be open less wide and for a shorter time while maintaining minimum temperatures.
I do not have the specific figure for the number of HEPA filters. I will speak to my Department and see if we can get that figure to the Deputy as quickly as possible. This grant scheme was designed specifically to deal with the issue of ventilation. We know that providers were very interested and had been in touch with my Department to see how we could facilitate them. We facilitated them with this very significant grant. As the Deputy will have seen from the figures I have cited to him, there has been a very significant take-up of the grant. I believe providers will have gone out to source and implement this in respect of the guidance my Department has provided as to what is the right type of filter and what is the right scale and size of filter for the particular settings each provider has, recognising the very different sizes and scales of settings around the country.
It seems to me that the fact the Minister does not have the figures illustrates the problem with this approach of establishing a grant and then crèches and crèche operators having to jump through various hoops to get the grant and then install the filters, as opposed to simply going out and saying this is important and that the Department will centrally purchase the appropriate number of HEPA filters needed and then distribute them into the facilities across the country. Can the Minister at least reassure me some HEPA filters have been installed under this grant scheme? I know that in respect of schools, for example, a couple of weeks ago a similar grant scheme was in operation and not a single HEPA filter had been installed as a consequence. The principals said that was a long bureaucratic process and that it would be the summer before they got there. Is the same hampering the roll-out under this scheme in the crèches?
The final point I will make is the importance of long Covid. We know that about 10% of people get long Covid. Obviously, many of them will recover from that, but it can affect children particularly, which means it is vital we do everything we can to protect children as well as staff.
We have taken very extensive measures to protect children, and the grant we provided this December is not the first grant. A €5 million outdoor play grant was provided in June of last year, and just short of €30 million was provided for a reopening grant in August 2020, around the time I entered this role, to support the reopening of services following the initial large-scale closure. Very significant capital grants have been provided to childcare facilities all over the country to make them ready and to make those services safe, and I know providers have implemented that. I have been in childcare facilities. I have seen the differences, the screens and the various provisions that have been put in place. I have spoken to some providers in my own constituency about the HEPA filter grant. They appreciated that additional support and the extra security and public health safety it provided. It is not bureaucratic; we have made this available as quickly as possible to providers. That is certainly the response I have got back from them.
