Written Answers Nos. 983-997
983. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if visa applications for a family (details supplied) will be considered; and the status of the applications. [35777/23]
View answerThis is a matter for my cabinet colleague, the Minister for Justice.
984. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of WTE clinical psychologists and senior medical social workers based at Blakestown and Blanchardstown children's disability network teams in 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form. [35783/23]
View answerAs this refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
985. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of WTE employees in special care units, broken down by grade and special care unit, in tabular form. [35784/23]
View answerI wish to inform the Deputy that my officials have asked Tusla to respond directly to you on this matter.
986. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of recruitment agencies that Tusla currently has a contract with regarding employment; the costs associated with each contract; and the dates upon which contracts were entered into. [35785/23]
View answerI wish to inform the Deputy that my officials have asked Tusla to respond directly to you on this matter.
987. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the action his Department has taken to honour the programme for Government pledge to ensure that Government Departments and public bodies take positive steps, including the use of correct pronouns and, where possible, making improvements on official forms, to assist non-binary people. [35823/23]
View answerThe government’s commitments in relation to gender recognition are a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys. This question should be directed to the Department of Social Protection.
988. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if consideration has been given to allow women who receive a cancer diagnosis to postpone the taking of maternity leave while they undergo treatment and are in recovery; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35849/23]
View answerThe Maternity Protection Act 1994 and the Maternity Protection (Amendment) Act 2004 provide a pregnant employee with six months of paid maternity leave and an additional 16 weeks of unpaid leave, alongside other entitlements such as breastfeeding breaks which will be extended to two years following the birth of the child through the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023.
The Acts include provisions for the postponement of maternity leave in the event of the hospitalisation of the child and for the termination of additional unpaid maternity leave in the event of illness of the mother.
All forms of family leave are kept under review to ensure that they are effective in supporting families and children. I have asked my officials to examine the issues raised by the Irish Cancer Society regarding the deferral of maternity leave where a mother falls ill during this period and this work is ongoing.
989. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he is aware of the case of a child (details supplied) whose original application for an assessment of need was lost by the HSE; if he will ensure that this child receives their AON and support as a matter of urgency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35858/23]
View answerAs this refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
990. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will prioritise the case of a child (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35867/23]
View answerAs this refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
991. Deputy Joe McHugh asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if posts (details supplied) in Donegal have been advertised externally; the frequency of interviews for such posts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35882/23]
View answerAs this refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
992. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when the list of successful applicants for the most recent strand B of the building blocks grant will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35888/23]
View answerMy Department has allocated €9m this year for the Building Blocks - Improvement Grant with grants ranging from €35,000 to €75,000 for energy upgrades and retrofit projects.
Overall, 946 services submitted applications, out of a total eligible cohort of approximately 4,200 services that have signed up to Core Funding.
Under the Building Blocks Improvement Grant, Pobal, who is administering the scheme on behalf of my Department, put in place an appeals mechanism for unsuccessful applicants. Pobal has concluded its appeals process and all services who submitted an appeal have been notified of the outcome.
My Department intends to publish the full list of successful applicants for the Building Blocks - Improvement Grant shortly, and a copy of the list of successful Strand B applicants will be provided to the Deputy at this time.
993. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will provide clarification on a matter (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35922/23]
View answerAs the query refers to an individual's case, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
994. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of WTE occupational therapists and speech and language therapists part of north Kildare children's disability network teams in 2021, 2022 and to-date in 2023, in tabular form. [35948/23]
View answerAs this refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
995. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth what steps are being taken to ensure that early learning and childcare funding is invested into smaller independent childcare operators as well as larger childcare chains; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35954/23]
View answerTogether for Better, the new funding model, is about getting the most out of the three Early Learning and Childcare programmes, ECCE including AIM, NCS and Core Funding, working together and ensuring stability and sustainability in the sector. Together for Better is already delivering substantial benefits for children, parents, staff and providers and I am very proud of the significant achievements in its first year of operation.
Core Funding, which began in September 2022, is the new funding stream worth €259 million in full year costs to start this 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.
Core Funding differs from the other schemes for subsidising Early Learning and Childcare in that it follows a supply-side model. Services receive funding based on their capacity – the space and opening hours they offer to children – rather than on registrations or attendance. Structuring Core Funding primarily based on capacity means that services have an allocation each year that does not fluctuate in line with children’s attendance. Core Funding contributes to services’ sustainability and significantly increases income for the overwhelming majority of services and provides greater funding stability. This stability of funding should be especially helpful to new services starting up.
Core Funding has provided evidence of increased capacity in Early Learning and Childcare. Initial analysis shows the increased capacity is the type of capacity that is in highest demand relative to supply (i.e. more baby and toddler places as well as school-age places).
For year 2 of Core Funding, the budget will increase by 11% to reach €287 million, providing a sustainable platform for investment with increases for all services.
The allocation model for year 2 of the scheme allocates:
€8.47 million towards funding the natural growth of the sector,
€6.11 million towards non-staff overheads, to support Partner Services with increases to non-staff costs, while maintaining the fee management system
€2.2 million towards administrative staff time,
€4 million towards the removal the year 3 requirement for the Graduates Premiums, underpinned by EROs, and
€7.22 million for new targeted measures which are aimed at improving the sustainability of smaller and sessional Partner Services. These include a flat rate allocation of €4,075 for all sessional-only services, which will benefit approximately 1,700 Partner Services delivering the ECCE programme, and a minimum base rate allocation of €8,150, which will benefit small, part time and school-age services.
These decisions were made using the most recent data available to allocate Core Funding for year 2, with data emerging from current operations of services from March 2023 underpinning the recently announced allocation model, as well as the most up-to-date macroeconomic projections.
This investment is also complemented by other measures for services.
Early learning and childcare services are able to apply for the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS), which supports all eligible businesses in meeting the increased cost of electricity and/or natural gas in the eligible periods.
Special supports are also available from my Department where a service is experiencing financial difficulty or has concerns about their viability, accessed through local City or County Childcare Committee (CCC).
This support can take the form of assisting services with interpreting analysis of staff ratios and cash flow, as well as more specialised advice and support appropriate to individual circumstances.
I am committed to working with Partner Services delivering early learning and childcare for the public good.
996. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if his attention has been drawn to naíonra preschools that are having to recruit staff from outside Ireland and as a result are unable to offer their service through Irish; and the steps he will be taking to support the naíonra format; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35955/23]
View answerI acknowledge that many early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) services report staffing difficulties in relation to recruitment and retention. In general, staffing pressures in the sector are caused not by insufficient supply of qualified personnel, but by high levels of staff turnover.
Recruitment and retention difficulties are undoubtedly linked to pay and conditions. Providers of ELC and SAC are private businesses. As the State does not employ staff in ELC and SAC services, neither I nor my Department can set wage levels or determine working conditions for staff in the sector. However, there is now, through the independent Joint Labour Committee (JLC) process, a formal mechanism established by which employer and employee representatives can negotiate minimum pay rates for different roles in ELC and SAC services.
On 15 September 2022, two Employment Regulation Orders for Early Years Services, negotiated through the JLC, came into effect, providing for minimum hourly rates of pay for various roles in ELC and SAC services.
The Orders are being supported by Core Funding – which has an allocation of €259 million in its first year – to support amongst other things, improvements in staff wages, alongside a commitment to freeze parental fees and support for sustainability of services. As announced in Budget 2023, the Core Funding allocation will increase by €28 million for the second year.
I understand that the JLC for Early Years Services is continuing to meet to discuss possible changes to the EROs.
I am also committed to addressing other challenges which may impact on the recruitment and retention of staff in the sector. In December 2021, I published "Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for ELC and SAC, 2022-2028". Nurturing Skills aims to strengthen the ongoing process of professionalisation for those working in the sector. One of the five "pillars" of Nurturing Skills comprises commitments aimed at supporting recruitment, retention and diversity in the workforce, and it includes actions to raise the profile of careers in the sector.
However, in light of the current staffing pressures in ELC and SAC services, my Department has arranged an accelerated process for assessment of equivalence with the NFQ level 5 minimum qualification requirement for students currently enrolled on a recognised level 6, 7 or 8 course. This is a temporary measure specifically to help services with short-term staffing shortages over the summer period. Students who are approved through the accelerated assessment process will receive a “Letter of Temporary Permission to Practise” from my Department.
There is much value in supporting the provision of services in the Irish language to children at an early age. ELC services play an important role here, in particular in promoting Irish as a living language.
My Department is working closely with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and the Department of Education to implement a comprehensive set of actions that were agreed as part of the 5 Year Action Plan for the Irish Language 2018-2022. These actions are designed to affirm the importance that ELC settings have in encouraging the development and revitalisation of the Irish language. The aim of these actions is to build on the existing measures, supports and partnerships in place in the area of Irish-medium ELC and SAC, and to further improve these supports and services.
Inter-Departmental coordination in relation to supports for Irish-medium provision of ELC, both inside and outside the Gaeltacht, takes place through the National Early Years Oversight Group (established as part of the 5-Year Irish Language Action Plan), which is chaired and coordinated by officials in my Department.
In line with the commitments in the 5 Year Action Plan, the development of a Comprehensive Plan to further the development of Irish language provision in the ELC and SAC sector has commenced. To support the development of a Comprehensive Plan it was necessary to survey Irish-medium ELC and SAC settings including childminders to obtain a baseline of the current level of Irish-medium provision in the sector. A survey of providers was therefore undertaken, and the opportunity was also used to survey providers on the supports, services and resources they believe would be most useful to support Irish-medium provision. This report is being finalised and will be published shortly. The report will complement other research and consultation processes planned for later this year, to support the work of an Advisory Group which is being established to oversee the drafting of the Comprehensive Plan. It is intended that the Plan will be published in 2024.
997. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for clarification and detailed information regarding the current staffing levels in the children's disability network team 5 within community healthcare organisation 5 (details supplied); if he will outline any plans or initiatives that are being put in place to address potential staffing shortages or challenges within the children's disability network team 5; if he will provide further insight and updates regarding the staffing situation in the children's disability network team 5; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35986/23]
View answerAs this refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
