James Lawless
Question:563. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to examine an issue (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17912/24]
View answerEarly Childhood Care and Education
Questions (563)
Written answers
The ECCE programme is available to all children within the eligible age range. A child must have reached 2 years and 8 months of age on or prior to 31 August of the relevant programme year to be eligible for the 1st September start date.
The minimum eligibility age for the ECCE programme was revised in September 2018 when it was reduced from 3 years to 2 years and 8 months. The revised minimum of 2 years and 8 months was chosen based on national experience and a review of international practice.
I accept that the use of age limits in a scheme such as ECCE creates a situation whereby a child can fall just outside the age range, however, my Department has to place an age cut-off at a point, and in the interests of fairness and consistency there can be no discretion in this regard.
In 2023 I appointed Stranmillis University College, Belfast to undertake an independent review of the ECCE programme. The review was designed to assess whether the ECCE programme is meeting its core objectives and to identify any opportunities for enhancements that can be made to the programme, based on international evidence and experience to date.
The final report of the Review is complete and I will now consider the findings from the Review and consider any policy changes that may need to be made to the ECCE programme.
A report of the findings from the Review will be published in the coming months.
With regard to further supports available, my Department also funds the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) which provides financial support to help families with their early learning and childcare costs.
There are two types of subsidies available for children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years of age, a Universal subsidy which is not means tested and provides €1.40 per hour for a maximum of 45 hours per week and an Income Assessed subsidy. An Income Assessed subsidy is means tested and will be calculated based on a family’s individual circumstances. Income Assessed subsidies range from €1.40 to €5.10 depending on a family’s reckonable income and child’s educational status. A subsidy calculator is available on the NCS website, which will help parents estimate how much they may be eligible for before they apply.
Further information on the NCS, including instructions on how to apply, can be found on www.ncs.gov.ie.
Childcare Services
Questions (564)
John McGuinness
Question:564. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the action he is taking to address the chronic shortage of places in the childcare sector in Kilkenny; if he will provide an interim arrangement immediately for those waiting for a place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17939/24]
View answerWritten answers
The availability of high-quality early learning and childcare is a key Government priority. My Department monitors early learning and childcare capacity on an ongoing basis, with a particular focus on responding to the unmet early learning and childcare needs of families.
Data from the 2022/23 Annual Early Years Sector Profile estimated that there were 4,293 children enrolled in early learning and school age childcare in Kilkenny. This represents a 6% increase from 4,038 in the previous year. The data also indicate that 55% of services had a waiting list and 57% had at least one vacant place.
My Department is progressing a broad range of actions to ensure the supply of Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Aged Childcare meets demand.
Core Funding, the funding scheme introduced in 2022, allocates funding for providers based on the cost of delivery. Under Core Funding, providers delivering ELC for babies and toddlers attract higher levels of funding, given the higher staffing requirements determined by the regulatory ratios for these children. Though only in operation since September 2022, initial analysis shows that this new funding scheme has given rise to a growth in capacity for these young cohorts. Budget 2023 allocated funding to secure a 3% growth in capacity for year 2 of the scheme, which has already materialised. Budget 2024 also secured funding to invest in a further 3% capacity growth from September 2024.
A new Supply Management Unit has been established within my Department to lead on this important work. The development of this function is akin to the Department of Education’s Forward Planning Unit. The Supply Management Unit is overseeing the allocation of new capital investment.
Last month, I announced an €18 million capital grant scheme for the Early Learning and Childcare Sector. The grant will provide for an immediate increase in affordable Early Learning and Childcare places in 2024, and will be specifically targeted in areas in where they are needed most. It will be the first of two significant capital investment schemes, to be delivered in 2024 and 2025.
Under the National Action Plan for Childminding, there is a commitment to open up access to the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) to parents who use childminders following the extension of regulation to childminders.
My Department funds 30 City/County Childcare Committees (CCCs), which provide support and assist families and early learning and childcare providers with early learning, and childcare matters. The network of 30 City/County Childcare Committees across the country are in a position to match children and families to services operating with vacant places and engage proactively with services to explore possibilities for expansion among services, particularly where there is unmet need.
Parents experiencing difficulty in relation to their early learning and childcare needs should contact their local City/County Childcare Committee (CCC) for assistance. Contact details for Kilkenny CCC may be found on www.kkccc.ie.
Early Childhood Care and Education
Questions (565, 566, 567)
Seán Haughey
Question:565. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of individual Tusla registered early learning and care services that have participated fully on the quality development services provided by Better Start/Pobal since their establishment, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17955/24]
View answerSeán Haughey
Question:566. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of individual Tusla registered early learning and care services that have participated with the Better Start/Pobal quality development service more than once, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17956/24]
View answerSeán Haughey
Question:567. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the annual cost of providing the Better Start/Pobal quality development service, in tabular form;; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17957/24]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 565 to 567, inclusive, together.
Better Start was established in 2014 by my Department, in association with the Department of Education, to deliver quality-related supports to early learning and care services and to support a cohesive approach to State-funded supports for quality across the early learning and care sector. Better Start is hosted by Pobal on behalf of my Department.
The Quality Development Service (QDS) forms one strand of Better Start activities. The QDS works with early learning and care settings in a mentoring capacity to promote and develop the quality of practice, as set out in Síolta, the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education, and Aistear, the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework.
The QDS provides a skilled and experienced team of Early Years Specialists (EYS) to work directly in a mentoring capacity with early learning and care services, on a national basis. The Early Years Specialists use the Aistear Síolta Practice Guide (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, 2014) as a key resource in mentoring services to develop quality for children.
The purpose of the Practice Guide is to support early years educators in using Aistear: the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework (2009) and Síolta, The National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education (2006) together to develop the quality of their curriculum and in doing so, to better support children’s learning and development.
Requests for the service come directly to Better Start, principally from the City and County Childcare Committees. All requests for the service are processed centrally. EYSs are allocated to the services on the basis of availability, skills and experience as far as possible matching the service profile.
Better Start EYSs work with the management and staff to build on service knowledge, strengths and experience in order to enhance the quality of service to young children. Early learning and care services are supported in action planning and goal setting using the Aistear Síolta Practice Guide. They will usually visit the service on a weekly or fortnightly basis, over a period of about six months.
These supports are delivered in a coherent and consistent way to support the provision of high quality services and promote positive outcomes for children.
The tables below present the requested information in tabular form. Table A shows the funding that the QDS has received on an annual basis from 2014 to 2023. Table B shows the overall number of early learning and care services that have engaged in the QDS and also the number of services that have re-engaged with the QDS. Table C gives the annual breakdown of services that have engaged with the QDS. Since 2020, the QDS has included a shorter Quality Practice Supports service in addition to the longer format of support provided since 2014. The figures in Table C represent the total number of services that have engaged in either of the QDS supports.
Table A - Better Start QDS funding
|
Better Start Quality Development Service |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
|
Total |
€2,496,434 |
€3,130,000 |
€2,905,000 |
€2,946,949 |
€3,284,658 |
€3,480,000 |
€3,336,694 |
€3,700,509 |
€3,458,000 |
€4,472,267 |
Table B - Participation in QDS
|
The number of early learning and care services that have participated in the QDS provided by Better Start/Pobal since its establishment |
2,100 |
|
The number of early learning and care services that have participated with the Better Start/Pobal QDS more than once |
413 |
Table C - Individual early learning and care services that have participated in the QDS
|
Year |
Number of services |
|
2015 |
277 |
|
2016 |
134 |
|
2017 |
121 |
|
2018 |
169 |
|
2019 |
144 |
|
2020 |
109 |
|
2021 |
157 |
|
2022 |
420 |
|
2023 |
435 |
|
2024 (year to date) |
134 |
|
Total Count |
2,100 |
Question No. 566 answered with Question No. 565.
Question No. 567 answered with Question No. 565.
Early Childhood Care and Education
Questions (568)
Seán Haughey
Question:568. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of Tusla early learning and care registered services that have selected to engage with each of the quality support agencies as identified in the Core Funding Quality Action Plan, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17958/24]
View answerWritten answers
Core Funding supports Partner Services with their financial sustainability while enhancing the quality, affordability and accessibility of their services. In accordance with Partnership for the Public Good, (DCEDIY 2021) the Core Funding model commits to drive high quality service provision. To support this, Core Funding requires all early learning and care (ELC), school-age childcare (SAC) and childminding services that benefit from Core Funding to complete a quality planning template annually, using tools provided by the Department and their agents to compile their Core Funding Quality Action Plan.
Through the introduction of Core Funding, provision is made for services to identify actions that will enhance the quality of their service provision. Many services are already engaged in quality improvement processes, for example, through their engagement with the Better Start Quality Development Service or through self-evaluation processes supported by the Aistear/Síolta Practice Guide.
The quality action plan offers a means of systematically capturing and acknowledging this positive work for the first time. As part of this process for all partners, learning from it is being used to inform the development of the process as it evolves. Partner Services are offered an opportunity to provide feedback on the process. The process, and the feedback received on it, supports the commitment in First 5 to strengthen supports for self-evaluation and development of a single quality framework to support self-evaluation and external evaluation of services.
As quality improvement is an ongoing process, activities that services undertake may change and progress from year to year. Quality reporting requirements under Core Funding will also evolve in future years to reflect this, based on the learning drawn from this process. Therefore the quality action plan template may change annually.
From 20 May 2024 to 28 July 2024 Partner Services will be required to complete and submit a Quality Action Plan Report for the programme year 2023-24. This provides an opportunity to outline the option(s) chosen, the actions identified and how they progressed, support sought, and any challenges experienced. There will also be a section for services to provide feedback on the year two process; this information will be used to refine the process for year 3 and future years.
The table below indicates the number of requests for support through the Quality Action Plan process, broken down by organisation. It should be noted that the number of services actually supported may differ from this, and that support organisations may receive requests for support from sources other than the Quality Action Plan process.
Core Funding Quality Action Plan support requests across all Tusla registered services (ELC, SAC and childminding):
|
Organisation |
Number of Requests * |
|
Barnardos |
384 |
|
Better Start |
671 |
|
Bláthu |
11 |
|
Childminding Development Officer |
9 |
|
Childminding Ireland |
18 |
|
City/County Childcare Committee |
1,544 |
|
Early Childhood Ireland |
958 |
|
National Childhood Network |
335 |
|
St. Nicholas Montessori |
78 |
|
Total: |
4,008 |
Note: * Figures do not indicate numbers of unique services as a service can make requests across more than one organisation.
Childcare Services
Questions (569)
Holly Cairns
Question:569. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the steps being taken to address the shortages in childcare staff in the short and long term; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17982/24]
View answerWritten answers
I acknowledge that many early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) services report staffing challenges 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. I am very conscious of the need for improvement in pay and working conditions for early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners which is a significant factor contributing to staff recruitment challenges.
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 terms and conditions of employment including minimum pay rates for different roles in ELC and SAC services. This process provided the first ever Employment Regulation Orders (ERO) for the sector and increasing wages for over 70% of staff working in services.
I understand that the JLC has submitted new draft EROs to the Labour Court proposing a 5% increase in minimum rates for all grades and the removal of 3 years experience requirement for graduate minimum pay rates.
Outcomes from the JLC process are supported by the Government through the Core Funding scheme, which has an allocation for this programme year alone of €287 million and I will again increase this allocation by a further 15%, for the third year of the scheme, to €331 million.
In line with commitments in First 5, in December 2021, I launched Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC), 2022-2028. Nurturing Skills aims to strengthen the ongoing process of professionalisation for those working in ELC and SAC and to raise the profile of careers in the sector. It includes a career framework and commitments to support early years educators to upskill and develop their careers. It also includes commitments to strengthen continuing professional development for staff working in the sector.
I also recently established a sub-group of the Early Learning and Childcare Stakeholder Forum to discuss issues of recruitment and retention with stakeholders in the sector. The second meeting of the sub-group took place on 7 February and the stakeholder group will continue to meet during 2024.
International Protection
Questions (570)
Fergus O'Dowd
Question:570. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth further to Parliamentary Question No. 1166 of 20 March 2024, if he will clarify statements (details supplied); his views on whether these statements directly contradict each other; his further views on whether there is no transparency regarding the entire process, no separate tendering for security services and presently no way of stating what security services cost; if this has been commented on by the auditor for his Department; the professional security advice his Department use when forming an opinion on the level of security required and the background checks, if any carried out into the security staff employed; the background checks that are carried out separately into all employees of the centre management company; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18017/24]
View answerWritten answers
International Protection Procurement Services (IPPS) contract for the provision of services to accommodation International Protection (IP) applicants. Part of that service provision includes the requirement for the accommodation to be adequately staffed 24/7 to maintain the privacy and security of residents. This is determined on a case by case basis by the provider. The Department does not set a criteria for this. The Department does not employ any of the staff working in accommodation centres.
The Department does not contract separately for security in accommodation centres. I do not believe that these statements are contradictory.