Thursday, 26 May 2022

Departmental Data

Questions (289)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

289. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated first and full-year cost of employing an extra 26 aftercare workers. [27078/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

I wish to inform the Deputy that my officials have asked Tusla to respond to you directly on this matter.

Departmental Data

Questions (290)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

290. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated cost to employ an additional 50, 100 and 250 social workers. [27079/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

I wish to inform the Deputy that my officials have asked Tusla to respond directly to you on this matter.

Departmental Data

Questions (291)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

291. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated cost to recruit an additional 10, 20 and 50 administrative support staff for social workers. [27080/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

I wish to inform the Deputy that my officials have asked Tusla to respond directly to you on this matter.

Departmental Data

Questions (292)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

292. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated cost to recruit an additional 10, 20 and 50 after care workers. [27081/22]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

I wish to inform the Deputy that my officials have asked Tusla to respond directly to you on this matter.

Direct Provision System

Questions (293)

Bríd Smith

Question:

293. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the rationale that was used by his Department in 2000 when the decision was taken to commence the direct provision system; if he will detail and supply the studies, risk assessments and policy deliberations and so on that were conducted by his Department at the time (details supplied); the advice that the Government relied upon to support the decision to set-up and extend the direct provision system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27052/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

As the Deputy will be aware, responsibility for the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) and the International Protection Procurement Service (IPPS) transferred to my Department on 14 October 2020. However, the Government decision to commence Direct Provision dates back to 1999. The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform had responsibility at that time for the international protection process in Ireland and in 2001 set up an internal agency called the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) to administer the Direct Provision system.

The system of Direct Provision of accommodation and related services came about as a result of an increasing number of international protection applicants arriving into the State in 1999. Prior to this, asylum seekers were treated as homeless under the structures then in place. These proved unsuited to the situation facing Ireland in 1999 and subsequent years, when the number of applicants for international protection arriving in Ireland increased significantly. A total of 7,724 applications were received in 1999 and a further 10,938 in the following year. Of these, most presented themselves in Dublin. The homeless service of the then Eastern Health Board could not cope and there was a serious prospect of widespread homelessness among applicants.

In response, the then Minister for Justice, John O'Donoghue T.D., chaired a cross-departmental group to examine the issue. From this, the Directorate for Asylum Support Services (DASS), under the aegis of the then Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, was established in November 1999 to co-ordinate the scheme of dispersal and Direct Provision for asylum seekers. DASS was subsequently replaced by the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) on 2 April, 2001. It had as a core principle that applicants would be located in centres across Ireland rather than concentrated in Dublin.

The Direct Provision system did not relate only to the Department of Justice. It was set up as a whole of Government approach to provide services to arriving International Protection applicants. The Government made a decision that protection applicants could access services, such as health and education, through the existing mainstream services.

My Department is not aware of any academic research that was carried out at the time of commencement. Rather, a number of working groups were established to make recommendations on the improvement of the system in subsequent years, notably the 2015 McMahon Working Group and report, and most recently the report of the Catherine Day Advisory Group, which informed the White Paper to End Direct Provision and to Establish a New International Protection Support Service.

As the Deputy is aware, the Government is committed to ending the current system of Direct Provision and to replace it with a new International Protection policy, centred on a not-for-profit approach. Last year, I published ‘A White Paper to End Direct Provision and to Establish a New International Protection Support Service’, which sets out how a replacement to the Direct Provision system will be structured and the steps to achieving it.

Early Childhood Care and Education

Questions (294)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

294. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of early childhood care and education-only childcare providers, that is, providers that do not offer a service outside of ECCE provision; the amount of annual funding they received; the number of childcare providers in receipt of state funding in same; the amount of annual funding received; the number of providers in receipt of funding that do not provide ECCE; and the amount of annual funding received in 2020 and 2021, respectively. [27054/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme is a universal two-year pre-school programme available to all children within the eligible age range. The programme is provided for three hours per day, five days per week over 38 weeks per year and runs from September to June each year, aligned with the primary school calendar.

The number of services that have only signed an ECCE funding agreement is outlined in the table below.

While these services do not have contracts with my Department for the provision of other funded early learning and childcare schemes, such as the NCS and CCSP/TEC, they may be providing additional early learning and childcare services to parents on a fee paying basis. If they are providing additional services, they would not be an ECCE only services. The Department does not collect data from providers on private early learning and childcare arrangements.

With regard to services who have entered into contracts with my Department for subsidy schemes other than ECCE as well as those that have signed a contract in addition to the ECCE contract the data is outlined in the table below.

Total funding includes all funding paid under all schemes Capital, AIM, etc. for the various scenarios.

	Programme Year	1. ECCE Only	2. ECCE + Other contract	3. No ECCE Contract
Contracts	2020/2021	1,344	2,678	504
Total Funding	2020/2021	€97,944,712	€415,951,210	€19,905,109
Contracts	2021/2022	1,352	2,640	503
Total Funding	2021/2022	€78,767,950	€312,440,587	€12,607,845

Departmental Data

Questions (295)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

295. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the funding allocation in 2020, 2021 and 2022 for county childcare committees by county; and the amount of this allocation that was spent in 2021 and 2022, in tabular form. [27055/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

There are 30 City/County Childcare Committees (CCCs) located nationwide, which are fully funded by my Department. The funding allocation for City/County Childcare Committees for 2020 (additional capital funding was made available to CCCs in 2020), 2021 and 2022 is set out in the table below.

Childcare Committee	2020	2021	2022
Galway City and County Childcare Committee	€640,476.62	€648,931	€732,466
Donegal County Childcare Committee	€430,669.74	€434,842	€438,326
Meath County Childcare Committee	€456,491.85	€461,700	€462,584
Cavan County Childcare Committee	€337,401.15	€336,197	€436,489
Fingal County Childcare Committee	€648,217.75	€656,227	€654,840
Sligo County Childcare Committee	€302,070	€270,020	€329,042
Longford County Childcare Committee	€341,251.14	€280,824.28	€243,057
Carlow County Childcare Committee	€262,965.75	€258,702	€260,358
Mayo County Childcare Committee	€365,401	€365,837	€367,348
Wicklow County Childcare Committee	€374,206	€377,358	€379,168
Louth County Childcare Committee	€343,817	€348,916	€351,430
Wexford County Childcare Committee	€407,033.25	€412,827	€414,914
Offaly County Childcare Committee	€274,551.75	€268,730	€271,277
Laois County Childcare Committee	€245,120	€257,652	€261,332
South Dublin Childcare Committee	€564,226	€580,451	€581,861
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown CC	€433,709.75	€434,469	€436,202
Kildare County Childcare Committee	€460,429.75	€474,833	€541,605
Cork City Childcare Committee	€449,150	€381,689.36	€473,935
Kilkenny County Childcare Committee	€358,116.74	€378,198	€366,157
Cork County Childcare Committee	€691,207.60	€711,59	€697,067
Clare County Childcare Committee	€352,851	€349,973	€353,869
Dublin City Childcare Committee	€940,926.57	€946,616	€1,004,407
Kerry County Childcare Committee	€406,350.45	€396,905	€398,814
Leitrim County Childcare Committee	€233,457.50	€234,648	€236,140
Westmeath County Childcare Committee	€352,555.26	€349,976	€348,122
Monaghan County Childcare Committee	€268,441.02	€263,854	€266,468
Roscommon County Childcare Committee	€286,996.43	€277,600.82	€272,584
Coiste Curam Leanai Phort Lairge	€491,424.75	€504,162	€559,812
Limerick County Childcare Committee	€613,311.50	€620,300	€623,560
Tipperary Childcare Committee Limited	€543,188.10	€547,581	€553,379

The table hereunder outlines the actual spend in 2021.

Childcare Committee	2021
Galway City and County Childcare Committee	€514,713
Donegal County Childcare Committee	€387,460.13
Meath County Childcare Committee	€430,930
Cavan County Childcare Committee	€253,112
Fingal County Childcare Committee	€534,081
Sligo County Childcare Committee	€256,293.46
Longford County Childcare Committee	€233,713.21
Carlow County Childcare Committee	€249,679
Mayo County Childcare Committee	€335,543.44
Wicklow County Childcare Committee	€345,090.73
Louth County Childcare Committee	€329,114.82
Wexford County Childcare Committee	€379,965.31
Offaly County Childcare Committee	€243,658
Laois County Childcare Committee	€224,225.81
South Dublin Childcare Committee	€525,695.69
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown CC	€384,523.55
Kildare County Childcare Committee	€408,913.07
Cork City Childcare Committee	€325,080
Kilkenny County Childcare Committee	€276,519.68
Cork County Childcare Committee	€576,361
Clare County Childcare Committee	€328,197.68
Dublin City Childcare Committee	€811,916.36
Kerry County Childcare Committee	€365,839.88
Leitrim County Childcare Committee	€227,247.60
Westmeath County Childcare Committee	€262,241
Monaghan County Childcare Committee	€254,002
Roscommon County Childcare Committee	€260,206.51
Coiste Curam Leanai Phort Lairge	€453,960.36
Limerick County Childcare Committee	€579,605.50
Tipperary Childcare Committee Limited	€480,260.96

In relation to 2022 expenditure, figures for the first quarter have been received from Pobal and are currently under review by my Officials. These figures will be available shortly.

Childcare Services

Questions (296)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

296. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the amount of funding that was allocated to the childcare services re-opening grants; and the amount of this allocation that was drawn down to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 for 2021 and 2022, in tabular form. [27056/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Deputy Roderic O'Gorman)

In June 2020, my Department provided a Covid-19 Capital Grant with a budget of €14.2 million and a Reopening Support Payment with a budget of €18 million to facilitate the reopening of early learning and childcare facilities from 29 June 2020 following the Covid-19 related closures.

The purpose of the Covid-19 Capital Grant was to contribute towards the capital costs associated with the reopening of services to ensure compliance with the government’s Public Health Advice and Covid-19 Infection Prevention and Control Guidance.

The Reopening Support Payment assisted providers with operational costs, such as additional staffing costs, training, additional learning resources and hygiene and cleaning consumables.

There were 3,815 services paid €13.16 million under the Reopening Support Payment and 4,035 services paid €12.675 million under the Covid-19 Capital grant.

All funding under the Reopening Support Payment and the Covid-19 Capital Grant was paid in the calendar year 2020.

Departmental Funding

Questions (297)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

297. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the amount of funding that was allocated to early years sector; and the amount of this allocation that was drawn down to mitigate the impact of Covid-19, in tabular form. [27057/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

From the onset of Covid-19, my Department and the State more broadly put in place a range of supports for Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare (ELC/SAC) services. The objective of these supports were to:

- support providers’ sustainability to enable services return to normal once restrictions were lifted;

- support providers to retain their staff;

- ensure that ELC/SAC could reopen and remain open, even at very low levels of occupancy;

- ensure that ELC/SAC could operate safely for children, families and staff;

- ensure that increased costs associated with public health requirements, and lower demand/occupancy were not passed on to parents; achieve administrative efficiency through the continued use of existing funding schemes and other whole of economy supports; and

- protect exchequer investment.

Supports in 2020 included:

- The Temporary Wage Subsidy Childcare Scheme (6 April – 28 June 2020); which was layered on top of the Revenue Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) and provided a top-up for wages of eligible early learning and care and school-age childcare staff and a further payment to be used towards ongoing/non-deferrable operational costs such as rent, insurance and ICT.

- The Reopening Funding Package, (29 June – 23 August 2020), which included a once-off Reopening Support Payment (RSP), a once-off Covid-19 capital grant.

The table below shows the ELC/SAC 2020 allocations and the amounts drawn down for the ELC/SAC sector across DCEDIY subsidy schemes and Covid-19 supports.

Scheme	Allocation	Net Expenditure
Covid-19 TWSCS	€77.3m	€52.4m
Covid-19 Reopening Support Payment	€18m	€13.1m
Covid-19 Capital	€14.2m	€13m
Sustainability Support Funds	€2.2m	€0.8m

In 2021, the Department provided supports under the Covid-19 Operating Support Payment, as follows:

Scheme	Allocation	Expenditure
Covid-19 Operating Support Scheme	€12m	€11.98m

Early Childhood Care and Education

Questions (298)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

298. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the amount of funding that was allocated to early childhood care and education service providers at the 100% rate; and the amount of this allocation that was spent in 2021 and 2022, in tabular form. [27059/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Deputy Roderic O'Gorman)

The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme is a universal two-year pre-school programme available to all children within the eligible age range.

Please see below ECCE allocation and expenditure figures in tabular form:

ECCE	2021	2022
Allocation	€289m	€273m
Expenditure	€285m*	n/a

*2021 figure is provisional and yet to be finalised

Departmental Funding

Questions (299)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

299. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the amount of funding that was allocated in 2021 and 2022 to national childcare schemes; and the amount of this allocation that was spent in 2021 and 2022, in tabular form. [27060/22]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

As the Deputy is aware the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides financial support to help parents meet the cost of childcare and to support better outcomes for children. There are two types of supports available under the Scheme:

- The Universal Subsidy is available to all families with children under 3 years. It is also available to families with children over 3 years who have not yet qualified for the free preschool (ECCE) programme.

- The Income Assessed Subsidy is available to families with children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years. It is means tested and will be calculated based on individual circumstances. Those on the lowest incomes will receive the highest subsidies.

The Deputy will also be aware that as part of Budget 2022, I announced a number of changes to the NCS, which will be of significant benefit to many parents. These changes will result in more parents getting additional subsidised hours for early learning and childcare in Tusla registered services by extending the NCS universal subsidy to all children under 15 - benefitting up to 40,000 children. A further change will remove the practice of deducting hours spent in pre-school or school from the entitlement to NCS subsidised hours, benefitting an estimated 5,000 children.

Please see below in tabular form the figures the Deputy has requested;

NCS Programme Funding

2021

€'m

2022

€'m

Allocation

€ 205.5

€ 200.3

Expenditure

€ 173.9*

n/a

*2021 expenditure figure is provisional and yet to be finalised.

Departmental Funding

Questions (300)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

300. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the amount of funding that was allocated in 2021 and 2022 to Community Childcare Subvention Plus; and the amount of the allocation that was spent in 2021 and 2022, in tabular form. [27061/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

There is no specific budget for the Community Childcare Subvention Plus Saver Programme (CSSP). CCSP is a legacy scheme, which is being replaced by the National Childcare Scheme (NCS). It is therefore incorporated under that budget.

The NCS budget for the years 2021 and 2022 is as follows:

Year	Budget
2021 € million	205.5
2022 € million	200.3

The spend on the CCSP in programme years 2020/21 and 2021/22 is as follows:

Year	€
Programme Year 2020/21	€ 52,714,357
Programme Year 2021/22	€ 21,485,887

Departmental Funding

Questions (301)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

301. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the amount of funding that was allocated in 2021 and 2022 to the Access and Inclusion Model; and the amount of the allocation that was spent in 2020 and 2021, in tabular form. [27062/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), is a programme of supports designed to ensure that children with disabilities can access and meaningfully participate in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) pre-school programme.

75% of expenditure is on Level 1 and Level 7 with the remaining expenditure on training, equipment, communications and advisory supports. Level 1 is provision of funding for training under the LINC training programme and employment of Inclusion Co-Ordinator (INCO) positions in ECCE sessions. Level 7 is funding for additional assistance in the preschool room to ensure a child’s participation in the ECCE programme. AIM provides financial support to the pre-school provider where needed, which can be used either to reduce the adult to child ratio in the pre-school room or to buy in additional assistance. Level 7 assistance is a shared resource for the preschool setting.

The allocations and drawdowns for the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) are set out in the table below.

Year	Allocated	Draw down
2020	43,000,000	31,900,000
2021	48,330,500	31,250,781
2022	45,550,955	n/a

The number of applications received for the 2020/21 programme call was significantly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic which resulted in 40% fewer applications during the 2020/21 call compared to the 2019/20 call. Another contributing factor were the large number of services opting to apply for the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) as an alternative to AIM funding. As a result there was an underspend in both 2020 and 2021.

Covid-19 Pandemic Supports

Questions (302)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

302. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the amount of funding that was allocated to the Covid-19 support payment in 2021 and 2022; and the amount of this allocation that was drawn down for said years. [27063/22]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Deputy Roderic O'Gorman)

The COVID-19 Impact Support for 2021 and 2022 is an individual strand of support available to eligible services under the Sustainability Funding budget. €2.2 million was allocated to Sustainability Funding for 2021 and €2.15 million has been allocated for the Sustainability Funding in 2022.

In 2021, four services received COVID-19 Impact Support funding totalling €60,825.

As of this date, no service has received a COVID-19 Impact Support payment for 2022.

Departmental Funding

Questions (303, 311)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

303. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the total percentage of State spending and parental spending in 2020, 2021 and 2022 on early learning and care and school-age childcare in tabular form. [27064/22]

View answer

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

311. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the percentage of childcare agencies' income that is made up of fees. [27083/22]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

I propose to take Questions Nos. 303 and 311 together.

An Independent Review of the Cost of Delivering Childcare in Ireland, undertaken by Crowe in on behalf of my Department, was published in November 2020. The project was designed to provide a robust evidence base for the further development of high quality Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC) in Ireland.

This Review found that approximately 40% of the total income to the sector comes from parental fees. The remainder came from State funding. This percentage was found to vary significantly across services. Many services rely entirely on State funding while others services rely exclusively on parental fees. In a sustainable service, it is expected that the income to services (from both parental fees and State funding) exceeds the costs of delivering services.

The income and costs data captured as part of the Review have underpinned the substantial Covid-19 supports secured including the exemption for employers in the ELC and SAC sector to the rule in the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) of having to demonstrate the reduction in turnover that was required of other employers.

Data for this Review was collected prior to the Covid-19 pandemic so the analysis of the breakdown of services' income between State funding and parental fees does not take account of the special financial supports that were made available to the sector from March 2020.

However, data available through the Annual Early Years Sector Profile survey shows that fees have remained largely static since the onset of Covid-19. At the same time, numbers of children attending services have reduced. This may rebound as parental working patterns change.

My Department is committed to the importance of collecting high quality income and cost data. In 2021, a new supplementary income and costs survey was circulated to all providers alongside the Annual Early Years Sector Profile survey, administered by Pobal on behalf of the Department. In 2022, the income and cost survey has been incorporated in to the Sector Profile and I am pleased that 83% of services have already completed this. This up to date sectoral data will provide a strong basis to inform future policy development and investment decisions.

With regard to State spending in 2020 and 2021, it is important to note that these were distorted years, due to Covid-19 effects. Expenditure data in relation to the sector from my Department is as follows:

	2020	2021
Original / Revised Allocation	€590.9*	€637,9
Expenditure	€ 507.9m	€ 593.5m**
Notes	*2020 was a revised figure	** It is important to note that 2021 Expenditure figures are provisional and yet to be finalised

As we are only partially through 2022, I cannot provide State spending, but can advise that the allocation in Budget 2022 was €716.7 million.

This expenditure data does not include, for example, expenditure on the EWSS, which has been available to ELC and SAC employers in the sector between August 2020 and April 2022. The EWSS at enhanced rates (from October 2020-January 2022) equated to €34 million per month for the ELC and SAC sector, covering on average 80% of payroll costs and 50% of total operating costs for providers. Standard EWSS (from August 2020-October 2020 and for February 2022) equated to €22 million per month , covering on average 50% of payroll costs and 38% of total operating costs for providers, and a flat rate of €100 from March-April 2022, amounting to €11 million per month, covering on average, 25% staff costs or 11% total operating costs. This expenditure data also excludes the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) that was operated by Revenue in 2020.

Given the significant distortion that occurred in the sector throughout 2020 and 2021, in terms of both income from fees with reduced attendance of children, and public income, with various exceptional funding arrangements in place, it is not possible to make robust estimates about the split in services’ income from public and private sources during this time.

Core Funding, with a total full year cost equivalent to €221 million, will be of particular interest with regard to the relationship between State investment and parental fees. Core Funding is the new funding stream to start a partnership between the State and providers to support delivery of ELC and SAC for the public good, for quality and affordability for children, parents and families.

Core Funding will introduce a fee freeze for the September 2022-August 2023 programme year. This will stabilise the fee levels and ensure the affordability benefits of the NCS and ECCE subsidies are felt by parents, particularly the new extension of the universal NCS payment to all children up to 15.

Core Funding will give providers a stable income source based on the nature of the service they deliver. A provider’s income will now consist of Core Funding, NCS and ECCE subsidies, and parental fees. Structuring Core Funding primarily based on capacity means that services will have an allocation each year that will not fluctuate in line with children’s attendance.

Departmental Funding

Questions (304, 305)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

304. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the total funding allocated in 2020, 2021 and 2022 to early learning care; and the amount of this allocation that was drawn down for 2020 and 2021, in tabular form. [27065/22]

View answer

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

305. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the total funding allocated in 2020, 2021 and 2022 to school-age care; and the amount of this allocation that was drawn down for 2020 and 2021, in tabular form. [27066/22]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

I propose to take Questions Nos. 304 and 305 together.

A total €716.7 m has been allocated to Early Learning Childcare and School Age Childcare in 2022. Please see below in tabular form the combined allocation and expenditure figures for the years 2020 to 2022:

	2020	2021	2022
Original/ Revised Allocation	€ 590.9m*	€ 637.9m	€ 716.7m
Expenditure	€ 507.9m	€ 593.5m**	n/a

*2020 was a revised figure

**2021 Expenditure figures are provisional and yet to be finalised

Question No. 305 answered with Question No. 304.

Departmental Funding

Questions (306)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

306. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the total funding allocated in 2020, 2021 and 2022 to the national childcare scheme; and the amount of this allocation that was drawn down for 2020 and 2021, in tabular form. [27067/22]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

As the Deputy is aware the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides financial support to help parents meet the cost of childcare and to support better outcomes for children. There are two types of supports available under the Scheme:

- The Universal Subsidy is available to all families with children under 3 years. It is also available to families with children over 3 years who have not yet qualified for the free preschool (ECCE) programme.

- The Income Assessed Subsidy is available to families with children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years. It is means tested and will be calculated based on individual circumstances. Those on the lowest incomes will receive the highest subsidies.

The Deputy will also be aware that as part of Budget 2022, I announced a number of changes to the NCS, which will be of significant benefit to many parents. These changes will result in more parents getting additional subsidised hours for early learning and childcare in Tusla registered services by extending the NCS universal subsidy to all children under 15 - benefitting up to 40,000 children. A further change will remove the practice of deducting hours spent in pre-school or school from the entitlement to NCS subsidised hours, benefitting an estimated 5,000 children.

Please see below in tabular form the figures you have requested;

NCS Programme Funding

2020

€'m

2021

€'m

2022

€'m

Original/ Revised Allocation

€ 145.2*

€ 205.5

€ 200.3

Expenditure

€ 109.4

€ 173.9**

n/a

* 2020 Allocation was a revised figure

**2021 expenditure figure is provisional and yet to be finalised.

Departmental Funding

Questions (307)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

307. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the total funding allocated in 2020, 2021 and 2022 to after-school provision within the national childcare scheme budget; and the amount of this allocation that was drawn down for 2020 and 2021, in tabular form. [27068/22]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

As the Deputy is aware the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides financial support to help parents meet the cost of childcare and to support better outcomes for children. There are two types of supports available under the Scheme:

- The Universal Subsidy is available to all families with children under 3 years. It is also available to families with children over 3 years who have not yet qualified for the free preschool (ECCE) programme.

- The Income Assessed Subsidy is available to families with children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years. It is means tested and will be calculated based on individual circumstances. Those on the lowest incomes will receive the highest subsidies.

The Deputy will also be aware that as part of Budget 2022, I announced a number of changes to the NCS, which will be of significant benefit to many parents. These changes will result in more parents getting additional subsidised hours for early learning and childcare in Tusla registered services by extending the NCS universal subsidy to all children under 15 - benefitting up to 40,000 children. A further change will remove the practice of deducting hours spent in pre-school or school from the entitlement to NCS subsidised hours, benefitting an estimated 5,000 children.

Please see below in tabular form the figures in relation to the National Childcare Scheme. My Department does not have available a breakdown between the Early Learning Childcare allocation and expenditure and those of School Age Childcare.

NCS Programme Funding

2020

€'m

2021

€'m

2022

€'m

Original Allocation/ Further Revised Allocation

€ 145.2*

€ 205.5

€ 200.3

Expenditure

€ 109.4

€ 173.9**

n/a

* 2020 Allocation figure was a revised figure

**2021 expenditure figure is provisional and yet to be finalised.

Departmental Funding

Questions (308)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

308. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the total funding allocated in 2020, 2021 and 2022 to the Access and Inclusion Model; and the amount of this allocation that was drawn down for 2020 and 2021, in tabular form. [27069/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), is a programme of supports designed to ensure that children with disabilities can access and meaningfully participate in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) pre-school programme.

75% of expenditure is on Level 1 and Level 7 with the remaining expenditure on training, equipment, communications and advisory supports. Level 1 is provision of funding for training under the LINC training programme and employment of Inclusion Co-Ordinator (INCO) positions in ECCE sessions. Level 7 is funding for additional assistance in the preschool room to ensure a child’s participation in the ECCE programme. AIM provides financial support to the pre-school provider where needed, which can be used either to reduce the adult to child ratio in the pre-school room or to buy in additional assistance. Level 7 assistance is a shared resource for the preschool setting.

The allocations and drawdowns for the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) are set out in the table below.


Year	Allocated	Draw down
2020	43,000,000	31,900,000
2021	48,330,500	31,250,781
2022	45,550,955	n/a

The number of applications received for the 2020/21 programme call was significantly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic which resulted in 40% fewer applications during the 2020/21 call compared to the 2019/20 call. Another contributing factor were the large number of services opting to apply for the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) as an alternative to AIM funding. As a result there was an underspend in both 2020 and 2021.

Departmental Funding

Questions (309)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

309. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the total funding allocated in 2020, 2021 and 2022 to the training and employment childcare scheme; and the amount of this allocation that was spent in 2020 and 2021, in tabular form. [27070/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Deputy Roderic O'Gorman)

There is no specific budget for the Training and Employment Childcare programme, it is incorporated within the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) budget.

The Training and Employment Childcare (TEC) programme budgets are approved by programme year, as opposed to calendar year. Included in the below tables are the 2019/20 and 2020/21 programme year allocations for the TEC programme with payments made in the calendar years 2020 and 2021.

After the 2020/21 programme year, TEC finished as a standalone programme. From the 2021/22 programme year, this moved to an allocation under CCSP, as ‘CCSP- TEC Final Year’. The total value of approved registration for the 2021/22 programme year has been included, along with the value of payments made in the year 2021 only.

Programme Year 2019/20

Programme	National Allocation	Paid 2020	Paid 2021
ASCC 2019	€ 172,726	€ 84,646	€ 3,670
CEC 2019 (AS)	€ 488,843	€ 242,416	€ 303
CEC 2019 (PS)	€ 971,467	€ 492,194	€ 480
CETS 2019	€ 3,480,559	€ 1,669,429	€ 9,187
	€ 5,113,595	€ 2,488,685	€ 13,640

Note: additional payments made prior to calendar year 2020.

Programme Year 2020/21

Programme	National Allocation	Paid 2020	Paid 2021
ASCC Saver Programme 2020	€ 14,319	€ 8,266	€ 6,053
CEC (AS) Saver Programme 2020	€ 180,065	€ 72,785	€ 107,175
CEC (PS) Saver Programme 2020	€ 400,480	€ 149,800	€ 250,360
CETS Saver Programme 2020	€ 618,917	€ 238,151	€ 380,766
Grand Total	€ 1,213,781	€ 469,002	€ 744,354

Programme Year 2021/22

Programme	Value of Approved Registrations	Paid 2021
CCSP –TEC Final Year	€132,330.50	€62,143.00
Grand Total	€132,330.50	€62,143.00

Note: additional payments made in calendar year 2022.

Departmental Funding

Questions (310)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

310. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated cost to the State if it were to provide by way of direct payment to childcare providers the money necessary to fund the sector to €13 per hour as the minimum wage for the current level five childcare staff working in the sector. [27082/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

I am very conscious of the need for significant improvement in pay and working conditions for early years educators and school age childcare practitioners. The level of pay they receive does not reflect the value of the work they do for children, for families and for the wider society and economy. I am also aware that this issue is a sector-wide one and does not solely relate to those working in the sector who hold a level 5 award in early learning and care.

As the State does not employ early years educators and school age childcare practitioners, my Department does not set wage levels or determine working conditions for staff in the sector. The cost estimates below would arise for early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) service providers.

On the basis of 2021 data from the Annual Early Years Sector Profile, it can be estimated that the annual cost of raising the wages of all early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners to at least €13 per hour would be approximately €26.2 million. The additional cost to employers for this in terms of other employer costs is estimated to be approximately €5 million, bringing the total cost to €31.1 million.

In relation to the estimates above, the following should be noted:

- The cost estimate only relates to staff who recorded an hourly wage in their response to the 2020/21 Annual Early Years Sector Profile. It does not include any costs that might arise to adjust wages for those who instead report an annual salary or draw profits as owner-managers.

- The cost estimate only relates to staff and managers who work directly with children. It does not include wages for managers who do not work directly with children or wages of ancillary staff.

- The cost estimate is not limited to those staff and managers whose highest level of qualification is Level 5 on the National Framework of Qualifications. It includes the cost of raising the wages of staff with higher qualifications who earn less than €13 per hour.

- The cost estimate is the additional cost of bringing staff from their current wage up to at least €13 per hour.

- The cost estimate does not attempt to look at the potential cost implications for the wages of staff currently earning more than €13 per hour.

- The methodology used in estimating the above costs is based on analysis of the Annual Early Years Sector Profile data and differs from the allocation mechanism for Core Funding, which is based on a service's capacity and not on a service’s individual staff wage rates.

Question No. 311 answered with Question No. 303.

Childcare Services

Questions (312)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

312. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if staff salaries represent 70% of the cost of the childcare sector; his views on whether this is 70% of providers costs; and if not, if it is 70% of all costs, including costs that are covered by State funding. [27084/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

In 2018, Crowe was commissioned by the then Department of Children and Youth Affairs to undertake an independent review on the cost of providing quality early learning and childcare (ELC) in Ireland. The brief for the Review included:

- analysing the current costs of providing ELC and the factors that impact on these costs;

- the development and delivery of a model of the unit costs of providing ELC that allows analysis of policy changes and variation in cost-drivers, including the potential impact of professionalisation; and

- providing an objective, high-level market analysis of the ELC sector in Ireland, including analysis of fee levels charged to parents.

The project has provided a robust evidence base for the development of policy and implementation of initiatives to support the delivery of high quality ELC in Ireland.

The final report, Independent Review of the Cost of Providing Quality Childcare Services in Ireland, was published in 2020. The draft final report, cost modelling tool and guidance were subject to peer review.

As part of the Review, the broad components of the full cost of delivering ELC was identified. This suggested a pattern consistent with those found in other jurisdictions, including England, New Zealand and Scotland, whereby a dominance of staff costs in the make-up of the overall cost figures. Specifically, on average, staffing costs were found to account for approximately 70% of the total cost of delivering ELC across all services. Whilst the average proportion of total cost represented by staffing costs varies marginally, it is at a minimum, more than two-thirds of the total cost of delivering ELC, regardless of different provider types.

These figures relate to providers' total costs, regardless of the extent to which those costs are subsidised by public funding. Separately, the same review found that, on average 60% of the income to the sector is from public funding although this varies substantially across the sector.

Data on provider income and cost was also collected in 2021 and 2022 by Pobal to enable similar analysis. Analysis of data collected in 2021 shows broad consistency with 2018 data in relation to the proportion of costs driven by staff costs.

Income and cost data, now collected through the Sector Profile, is more important than ever to underpin important policy and funding decisions. A new round of data collection has recently been completed. This is opportune given the uniqueness of this point in time for the sector with the end of pandemic measures and imminent introduction of the major new funding stream, Core Funding. I am delighted that 83% of services have already completed the Sector Profile this year, which will provide a strong basis to inform future policy development and assess the impact of Core Funding.

As part of Budget 2022, I was pleased to announced Core Funding, a new supply-side funding stream available to ELC providers from September 2022. Core Funding amounts to €221 million in full year costs (€173 million of which is new investment). The €221 million Core Funding budget is distributed to services in a fair and proportionate manner, based primarily on the features that determine services’ operating costs, key of which is staff costs.

Importantly, Core Funding and this significant increase in investment to the sector is the vehicle through which the Government will deliver improved pay and conditions for staff through supporting the drawing up of Employment Regulation Order for different roles of the sector by the Joint Labour Committee and through introduction new mechanisms to control parental fees.

Early Childhood Care and Education

Questions (313)

Kathleen Funchion

Question:

313. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will provide a breakdown of the €316.6 million provided for early childhood care and education programme and access and inclusion model preschools in line B.3 of the revised estimate for 2022, including ECCE pay and ECCE non-pay, access and inclusion model and so on. [27085/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Deputy Roderic O'Gorman)

The following table provides a breakdown of the €316.6 million in subhead B.3 of the Revised Estimates for 2022.

Revised Estimates	Total
ECCE Programme Funding	272,600
ECCE AIM Programme Funding	33,000
ECCE Programme Support Payments (PSP)	11,000

Funding under the ECCE Programme is paid on the basis of capitation and is not broken down by pay and non-pay costs.

However, the Independent Review of the Cost of Providing Quality Childcare Services in Ireland, published in 2020, found that pay costs account for approximately 70% of the total cost of delivering ELC across all services, with non-pay costs accounting for the remainder. This is in line with delivery costs in other jurisdictions.

Early Childhood Care and Education

Questions (314)

Bríd Smith

Question:

314. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of childcare providers who have signed up to the early childhood care and education scheme but who choose not to accept the affordable childcare scheme; the steps that his Department is taking to deal with the numbers of providers who will not accept the affordable childcare payments; the assistance that is available for parents of children in such facilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27175/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Deputy Roderic O'Gorman)

Early learning and childcare providers provide a crucial service, however it must be noted that they are private entities. As such, it is a matter for each provider to decide whether they enter into any contractual arrangement with my Department, including for the National Childcare Scheme (NCS). It is open to all registered early learning and childcare providers to opt in to contract on an annual basis to participate in this Scheme.

As per the 2021 Programme Call, the number of early learning and childcare providers that are currently contracted and available to offer the NCS is 3,019. While 3,921 early learning and childcare providers are currently contracted under the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. It should be noted that a total of 1,352 services have signed an ECCE funding agreement only. Most services not in contract to deliver the NCS are sessional only services that only deliver the ECCE programme.

I do appreciate the difficulties caused when a parent’s preferred early learning and childcare provider does not engage with the NCS. However, the NCS has been designed to be flexible so that parents can access their NCS award through any of the 3,019 early learning and childcare providers in the country, that are registered to provide the NCS. The CHICK number, which unlocks the subsidy award, can be used in any registered early learning and childcare service in contract to deliver the NCS.

Parents seeking support in this regard should contact their local County Childcare Committee, details of which are available at myccc.ie.

Finally, in addition to a number of improvements to the NCS announced in the recent Budget, a new core funding stream is being introduced in September 2022. The intention of this funding is to support providers to cover increased operating costs linked to quality improvement measures. A condition of this funding is that providers will not increase parents’ fees for early learning and childcare from September 2021 levels. In addition, to participate in core funding, early learning and childcare providers will also be required to offer the NCS and/or the ECCE programme to all eligible children/parents, in line with their operations.