Kathleen Funchion
Question:285. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated cost of the reinstatement of the childminding advisory service. [27074/22]
View answerThursday, 26 May 2022
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The National Childminding Initiative, which began in 2002, contained a number of strands to support childminders. One of the strands was the appointment of Childminding Advisory Officers, some of whom were employed by the HSE and some by City and County Childcare Committees. Their roles included offering information, support and training to childminders; maintaining the voluntary notification system; and administering other supports for childminders. The Childminding Advisory Officer posts were largely discontinued in 2012-2013 in the context of widespread budget cuts at that time.
In 2019 the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth put in place a National Childminding Coordinator, who is located within the Department, along with 6 Childminding Development Officers, who are located within City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs) around the country and who have a regional remit. As part of the implementation of Phase 1 of the National Action Plan for Childminding, Budget 2022 enabled the recruitment of an additional 6 Childminding Development Officer posts within the CCCs as well as a national CCC Childminding Lead whose work includes overseeing and coordinating the team of 12 Childminding Development Officers. As the Childminding Development Officers work on a regional basis in collaboration with the CCCs in each region, the team of Childminding Development Officers provides full national coverage.
In line with commitments in the National Action Plan for Childminding, the role of the Childminding Development Officers is to prepare the childminding sector for the move towards wider regulation and support, while also in the immediate term supporting childminders who are subject to the current regulations but are not yet registered with Tusla to meet Tusla registration requirements, thus enabling more childminders to take part in the National Childcare Scheme and other State supports.
The full-year cost of the 12 Childminding Development Officer posts that are now in place is €843,000 per annum, which includes costs for salaries, PRSI, travel and subsistence and overheads.