Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 April 2023
1242. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will ensure that the national childcare scheme payments for afterschool clubs are accessible by children who require less than five days' care; if he will ensure that children who use these services three days a week will not be penalised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17261/23]
View answerThe National Childcare Scheme (NCS) is designed to substantially reduce costs to families using eligible early learning and childcare. It is designed to be flexible, recognising that childcare needs are different for each family.
The NCS was designed following extensive consultations with all key stakeholders (including but not limited to early learning and childcare providers).
The NCS is designed to fit around the needs of families. The family agrees the number of hours to be used with provider and (within overall scheme limits) these hours are registered with the scheme administrator. Those hours can be used over any number of days within the week. There are absolutely no restrictions on the attendance pattern of families or the number of days they use. The family only needs to agree with the provider the number of hours
I am aware of incorrect information circulating that if hours are missed, for example if a child is picked up early one day, that the payment will be reduced. I would like to be clear on this issue and dispel any myths in relation to this issue which may cause anxiety to parents as this is an area. My Department received extensive feedback on this matter in the design phase and the NCS has been consciously designed to be more flexible than its antecedent schemes.
To use a common example, a parent registers for 40 hours and picks up their child early on Friday thereby using only 37 hours, the provider would still receive a payment for 40 hours. The parent would need to consistently use 37 hours for 8 continuous weeks before a notification would issue that they are not using the claimed amount and request they adjust this within 4 weeks. This creates a balance between a very flexible system for families whilst ensuring an efficient use of public resources by ensuring public monies are not used to subsidise empty places.
Another common example would be a family taking 2 weeks holidays. The subsidy will continue to flow for those 2 weeks.
My Department is currently running additional communications initiatives to highlight the advantages of the scheme and combat this misinformation.
I would note that the it is matter for the provider to decide their service offer and their fee structure. They may choose not to offer a 3 day service. They are private businesses and they are free to run their model as they see fit within the parameters of the scheme. Decisions to charge parents on this basis are matters independent of the scheme and actions of the Department.
I would note however that the NCS subsidies now form part of a wider suite of funding supports and those supports should facilitate greater flexibility among providers.
On 15 September 2022, I launched Together for Better, the new funding model for early learning and childcare. This new funding model supports the delivery of early learning and childcare for the public good, for quality and affordability for children, parents and families as well as stability and sustainability for providers. Together for Better brings together three major programmes, the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, including the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) and the new Core Funding scheme.
A key principle of the funding model is that it is family orientated and that, in so far as possible, it should be cognisant of the reasonable needs and choices of parents.
Core Funding, which began in September, is the new funding stream worth €259 million in full year costs to start the partnership for the public good between the State and providers. Its primary purpose is to improve pay and conditions in the sector as a whole and improve affordability for parents as well as ensuring a stable income to providers. Unlike the NCS, it is not a subsidy mechanism for fees rather the payment is made on the capacity of the services (whether places are filled or not).
Core Funding allows for substantial increases in the total cost base for the sector, related both to pay and non-pay costs, without additional costs being passed on to parents. Core Funding introduces fee management, which in year one is a fee freeze, where providers cannot increase the fees charged from last September 2021.
My Department is actively monitoring any issues reported by parents and will adjust policy as required and where the evidence compels such interventions to support accessible and high quality early learning and childcare provision.
