Written Answers Nos. 1859-1878
1859. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the measures his Department will be undertaking to assist with childcare costs for working families; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32595/24]
View answerIn 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.
Together for Better brings together the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), the National Childcare Scheme (NCS), Core Funding and the recently launched Equal Start. These schemes work to, inter alia, ensure children can access early learning and childcare at no or at significantly reduced out of pocket costs to parents.
The ECCE programme is available free of charge to all children for up to two years before starting primary school. 96% of children take part.
The NCS complements the ECCE programme, providing subsidies to reduce costs to parents for children to participate in early learning and childcare. The Scheme combines universal and income-assessed subsidies.
For some families, the NCS provides free access to early learning and childcare. In particular, the Scheme includes arrangements for specified target groups to receive free access, where referred by a sponsor body.
A review of the Scheme, published in 2021, found that over half of families in disadvantaged areas receiving support under the Scheme had over 50% of their costs covered.
A study of childcare costs by the OECD, published in 2022, covering the same period of the review found that the reforms of childcare support in Ireland provided significantly higher benefits to low-income families, driving the net childcare costs for low-income lone parents close to zero.
Following on from these reports, a number of enhancements were made to this Scheme:
• Removing of the practice of deducting hours spent in pre-school or school from the entitlement to NCS subsidised hours.
• Extending the NCS universal subsidy to all children under 15.
• Increasing the minimum hourly subsidy available under the NCS from 50 cent per to €1.40.
This minimum hourly subsidy will rise further to €2.14 per hour in September 2024 alongside increases in the NCS sponsor rates from children over 1.
The fee freeze, currently in place among 94% of all services – supported through Core Funding – ensures parents are benefiting from these changes to the NCS.
The fee freeze will continue in the majority of services participating in Core Funding in year 3 of the scheme. However, there are two new developments to fee management under Core Funding:
• Where services feel their fees are not sufficient to cover costs, from end of July, my Department will introduce a fee increase approval process, whereby services with fees below a certain level will be able to apply to increase their fees up to an approved levels; and.
• A cap on fees is being introduced for services joining Core Funding for the first time in the third year of the Scheme. A fee cap will apply to all services in Core Funding from September 2025.
Any further measures to assist families with out of pocket costs for early learning and childcare will be considered as part of Budget 2025 and announced on Budget day.
1860. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for an update on a new facility for day services and a new building to locate same (details supplied) in Monaghan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32599/24]
View answerAs this question refers to day service and respite matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible. The query in relation to a dedicated national school does not fall under the remit of my Department and is more appropriate to the Minister for Education.
1861. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth further to Parliamentary Question No. 265 of 9 May 2024, to review a response issued to the PQ; if he will address the questions outlined by the person regarding same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32617/24]
View answerThe expansion of funding opportunities for early year’s educators and school-age childcare practitioners to upskill was a key commitment in Nurturing Skills, the Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare, 2022-2028 which I launched in December 2021. Nurturing Skills aims to build on the significant progress already made in raising skill levels across the early learning and care and school-age childcare workforce. Supporting the further professionalisation of the workforce is therefore key to improving outcomes for children and families. It is also essential for raising the profile of careers in the sector.
I launched the Nurturing Skills Learner Fund (NSLF) for the academic year 2024/2025 on a pilot basis for staff working in the early learning and care and school-age childcare sector with a current signed Core Funding contract with my Department.
I hope the NSLF will help drive forward the professional development of early year’s educators. I hope also that the NSLF will help to support the recruitment and retention of early year’s educators, through supporting career pathways and reducing financial costs that many early years educators face.
I have no plans to extend the NSLF to schools, which are under the aegis of my colleague the Minister for Education at this time.
1862. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he is aware of the case of an individual (details supplied); if he will intervene to ensure the person can attend services with the necessary supports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32618/24]
View answerThe Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) was introduced in 2016 to ensure that children with additional needs or a disability could access and meaningfully participate in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. Its goal is to empower pre-school providers to deliver an inclusive pre-school experience, ensuring that every eligible child can meaningfully participate in the ECCE programme and reap the benefits of quality early learning and care.
Following a review of AIM and commencing from this September AIM supports to ECCE-age children will be extended beyond time they spend in the ECCE programme – both in term and out.
This means that children with a disability registered on the ECCE programme will now be fully supported from September, to access and participate in early learning and childcare settings for up to 30 hours per week year round, both in term and out of term, including ECCE programme attendance of 15 hours per week during term time.
As noted above, it is a requirement that an ECCE aged child should be registered for ECCE in the first instance to avail of AIM supports.
However, officials in my Department have reviewed the circumstances of the case and have contacted Pobal, who are the administrators of the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) to ensure a solution is found to support the child referred to in this case should the childs needs indicate such supports.
As with all responses to children's needs in AIMs, each child is considered in their own right based on the assessment of Better Start. It will ultimately be a decision for Better Start on the specific supports provided based on 7 AIM levels.
The request for AIM supports will be considered and the parents will be notified of the decision thereafter.
1863. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the reason TUSLA’s method of data collation has made it almost impossible to access documents under the Freedom of Information Act 2014 (details supplied); his views on whether this situation should be rectified for the sake of transparency by keeping copies of general documents outside children’s individual case files; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32636/24]
View answerIt is a matter for Tusla to process an FOI request submitted to them and these requests are processed accordingly under the Freedom of Information Act, 2014. Tusla has however furnished the following information which you may find informative.
Tusla embraces the principles of openness, transparency and accountability, both in the pursuance of its statutory role in accordance with the Child and Family Agency act 2013 and in ensuring compliance with the Freedom of Information Act, 2014. Tusla holds personal privacy in high regard in cognisance of the rights enshrined within Data Protection, Freedom of Information legislation and the Constitution.
When matters relating to the consideration of Freedom of Information requests arise, each request is carefully considered to determine whether the scope submitted could infringe on privacy rights, and to establish also whether responding to the request could involve processes which would significantly impact on other assigned duties.
An administrative reason for a refusal can arise when processing a request is likely to have a serious impact on other duties. Such grounds for refusal are provided within s.15(1)(c) of the Act (“in the opinion of the head, granting the request would, by reason of the number or nature of the records concerned or the nature of the information concerned, require the retrieval and examination of such number of records or an examination of such kind of the records concerned as to cause a substantial and unreasonable interference with or disruption of work (including disruption of work in a particular functional area) of the FOI body concerned”).
It is important to note that Tusla’s FOI office works closely with requesters and where concerns of this nature arise, the requester will be contacted to establish whether assistance could be provided to enable a revised request to be submitted with a view to avoiding a refusal.
The FOI Act does not allow access to a record which would involve the disclosure of personal information. Correspondence in relation to individuals is recorded and retained on individual case files and access to records held therein could only be considered for release if requested by the individual or their legal representative.
General correspondences relating to specific issues or items relating to the service would be considered and released in line with FOI legislation.
1864. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide a full list of the number of beds available for accommodating both Ukrainian refugees and International Protection applicants, listing how many of them are occupied and how many are empty at the most recent date at which this information is available. [32637/24]
View answerBeneficiaries of Temporary Protection
Up to 18 July 2024, there were 41,229 Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTP) reported as availing of DCEDIY contracted accommodation nationally. The Department publishes regular statistical reports on the Accommodation of BOTPs. It is not considered appropriate to publish information relating to persons or the location of their place of residence. The reports present data by type of accommodation, age groups and by county. The reports can be accessed here: www.gov.ie/en/publication/9ac7b-accommodation-of-beneficiaries-of-temporary-protection-botps/
Due to continuing downward trends in BOTPs seeking accommodation from the State, coupled with increases in BOTPs leaving State provided accommodation to seek more independent living, vacancies continue to arise in the BOTP portfolio of commercial accommodation. These vacancies are notified by providers on a weekly basis and the numbers change daily in response to moves in and out of accommodation.
Providers are currently reporting approximately 4,800 current vacancies across the entire BOTP portfolio. However, it is important to note that a significant proportion of vacancies which are ultimately deemed to be usable are already committed for certain moves in the short term.
Where a provider has decided not to renew a contract for example, or where my Department must end a contract with a provider to ensure greater compliance or value for money, the BOTPs in residence will need to be moved elsewhere in the portfolio.
The number of uncommitted vacancies is therefore far lower than the number of available vacancies reported by providers.
My Department’s ongoing work to consolidate and tailor the BOTP portfolio to match with current and future need for BOTP related accommodation will mean a continued need for usable vacancies as contingency within the portfolio.
International Protection applicants
As of 14 July, there are nearly 31,500 people accommodated in the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) system as a whole (of whom 8,112 are children) compared with approximately 8,700 people at the end of February 2022.
IPAS have increased capacity by more than 400% since 2020, from just under 7,000 people on 31 December 2020 to more than 31,000 in June 2024.
My Department does not collate current vacant beds in our International Protection portfolio due to the variable nature of the data which changes on an hourly basis. However, I can advise the Deputy that the usable capacity available in the system over the last number of weeks has ranged between approximately 200 and 500 beds across 309 centres.
IPAS continues to make every effort to maximise bed usage across its system. Where beds are not being utilised this can be for a number of reasons, including family configuration, contract management issues, capacity to support triage and reception processes in circumstances where there is very limited line of sight on new accommodation for single male applicants, and spaces reserved for the accommodation of families and children arriving in the coming days.
My Department engages intensively and proactively on a continuing basis with providers of contracted accommodation to identify any available bed spaces at these locations. A programme of in person inspections of centres is also carried out which includes checks to ensure bed usage is maximised.
These processes are in place to ensure that every available bed within the IPAS portfolio is available to accommodate arriving international protection applicants.
IPAS releases weekly statistics in relation to international protection (IP) applicants. This includes a per county breakdown of where IP applicants are residing. These statistics are available at www.gov.ie/en/publication/07027-ipas-statistics/.
1865. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for an update from the HSE estate management team on their site visit (details supplied). [32648/24]
View answerAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1866. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of persons with disabilities in 2024 that are in receipt of home-support hours in each LHO area; the number of hours to be provided in 2024 in each LHO area; and the corresponding figures for 2023 in each LHO area. [32691/24]
View answerAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1867. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of persons with disabilities in 2024 that are in receipt of personal assistance hours in each LHO area; the number of hours to be provided in 2024 in each LHO area; and the corresponding figures for 2023 in each LHO area, in tabular form. [32692/24]
View answerAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1868. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of beds currently available in the IPAS system. [32694/24]
View answerAs of 14 July, there are more than 31,000 people accommodated in the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) system as a whole (of whom 8,112 are children) compared with approximately 8,700 people at the end of February 2022.
The Department of Integration has increased IPAS capacity by more than 400% since 2020, from just under 7,000 people on 31 December 2020 to presently more than 31,000.
The Department does not collate current vacant beds due to the variable nature of the data which changes on an hourly basis. I can update the Deputy that the usable capacity available in the system over the last number of weeks has ranged between approximately 200 and 500 beds across 309 centres. These beds are required to ensure accommodation is available for newly arriving families. This equates to approximately 8 days of arriving international protection applicants.
IPAS continues to make every effort to maximise bed usage across its system. Where beds are not being utilised this can be for a number of reasons and includes family configuration, contract management issues, capacity to support triage and reception processes in circumstances where there is very limited line of sight on new accommodation for single male applicants, and spaces reserved for the accommodation of families and children arriving in the coming days.
The Department engages intensively and proactively on a continuing basis with providers of contracted accommodation to identify any available bed spaces at these locations. A programme of in person inspections of centres is also carried out which includes checks to ensure bed usage is maximised.
These processes are in place to ensure every available bed within the IPAS portfolio is available to accommodate arriving international protection applicants.
(IPAS) releases weekly statistics in relation to international protection (IP) applicants. This includes a per county breakdown of where IP applicants are residing. These statistics are located on the Gov.ie website:
www.gov.ie/en/publication/07027-ipas-statistics/
1869. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the reason despite an 11.1% funding shortfall being identified for independent Dublin youth projects, there has been just a 1.5–2.5% increase in budgets. [32695/24]
View answerSince I became Minister I have secured increases in current funding for youth from €61.8 million in 2020 to €77.95 million in Budget 2024, a 26% increase overall.
The UBU Your Place Your Space funding distributed under this scheme has increased during this time by 28%, from €37.3 million to €47.9 million in 2024. The total funding allocated to City of Dublin ETB (CDETB) for youth services under UBU in 2024 is €16.67 million.
CDETB also receives an annual General Grant allocation, worth €509,000 in 2024, and an annual Local Youth Club Grant Scheme allocation, worth €391,667 this year.
Additional funding which has been allocated to CDETB for youth services during the course of the year to date includes €113,300 under the Resilience and Effectiveness Initiative, €200,000 under the Minor Grants scheme, €107,400 under the Targeted Youth Employability Supports Initiative, and €64, 400 to support the provision of summer programmes.
My officials are currently working on a review of the UBU Your Place Your Space scheme, which will provide the Department with more comprehensive evidence on the areas that are in need of additional support and inform the policy direction on how best to distribute funding to support young people.
1870. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if there are plans to establish an investment fund for youth work facilities and infrastructural improvements, as recommended by experts in the youth work sector. [32696/24]
View answerMy Department is currently carrying out a mapping exercise in respect of youth services, which will include the premises currently used for youth services and help to identify gaps and shortfalls in the availability of spaces for youth services. This analysis is necessary to enable the Department to determine how best to direct capital funding over the period ahead.
While this research is underway, I have prioritised the direct delivery of services and programmes for young people and secured an increase of €5 million, or 6.8%, in Budget 2024 for current expenditure.
1871. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the plans that are in place to address the fact that 86% of independent Dublin youth projects surveyed have reported an inability to meet the demands of new national pay increases and auto-enrolment pension saving schemes. [32697/24]
View answerMy Department provides funding to youth services on the recommendation of the local Education and Training Board on the basis of the 'provision of a service' basis to meet the needs of the youth population in an area which are identified by the relevant ETB. As the State is not the employer of the youth workers , we do not set salary rates for workers in this sector.
I recognise the importance of the youth sector in providing supports to all young people, and in particular those who are disadvantaged, marginalised or vulnerable. From 2020 to Budget 2024, current Exchequer funding for youth services and programmes increased from €61.8 million to €77.95 million, a 26% increase overall.
My Department is currently working on a Workforce Development Strategy for the youth sector which will provide a framework to address workforce issues in the sector in a more systematic manner.
1872. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the evidence base the Government uses to support privatisation in the early education sector, given the consistent evidence from experts indicating that privatisation has led to a crisis in the sector. [32698/24]
View answerThe Programme for Government contains a number of commitments for early learning and childcare, including reforming the system to create one that brings together the best of community and private provision and the development of a new funding model for affordable, accessible, sustainable and high quality early learning and childcare.
An Expert Group was established in September 2019 to develop a new funding model for the early learning and childcare sector. Under their terms of reference, the Expert Group was not asked to propose changes to the current model of delivery (i.e. privately-operated provision), rather that the Group should seek to further achieve policy objectives of quality, affordability, accessibility and contributing to addressing disadvantage in a privately-operated system through increased public funding and public management.
In December 2021, Government approved the 25 recommendations contained in the Expert Group report, Partnership for the Public Good: A New Funding Model for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare. The recommendations were accepted in full by Government and implementation of this new funding model is well underway.
Of the 25 recommendations, three are grouped under the title 'Role of the State'. In particular, the final recommendation states that, “[I]n the medium term, the Minister should mandate the Department to examine whether some element of public provision should be introduced alongside private provision.”
Taken together, these recommendations reflect a key theme of the report, which is the importance of strengthened State involvement and enhanced public management in the sector, in conjunction with increased State funding. This is underpinned by a cultural shift to a partnership relationship between providers and the State that reflects the public good dimension of early learning and childcare, with new responsibilities on both sides.
In September 2022, I launched Together for Better, the new funding model for early learning and childcare that supports the delivery of early learning and childcare for the public good. 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. 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.
Together for Better brings together the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, including the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), the National Childcare Scheme (NCS), Core Funding and Equal Start
This new funding model being implemented aims to transform the sector to one that is increasingly publicly funded and publicly managed. This is the start of a multi-annual investment plan – with investment this year exceeding €1.1 billion – achieving the First 5 investment target five years ahead of time. Full implementation of all recommendations, including recommendation 25, which would likely involve an estimate of cost and timeline for delivery of a portion of public provision, will be progressed in the coming years as additional funding is secured through the annual Estimates process.
1873. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the incentives that are in place to attract early childhood educators to the sector given the current staffing crisis. [32699/24]
View answerI 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.
In line with commitments in First 5, in December 2021, I launched 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 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 reduce staff turnover, to attract graduates to enter and remain in the sector along with actions to actively promote careers in ELC and SAC.
The Nurturing Skills Learner Fund (NSLF) is a commitment in Nurturing Skills. I launched the pilot NSLF in December last. The new fund aims to assist early years educators to pursue ELC qualifications at level 7 and level 8 that have been approved by the Qualifications Advisory Board (QAB) while continuing to work in the sector.
At the heart of Nurturing Skills is a vision of “a well-qualified, skilled, diverse and valued professional workforce that is centred on children’s rights, needs and potential and that provides quality experiences for children in partnership with families, and which continues to advance its professional development within a coherent and competent system.” The new pilot NSLF will play an important role in achieving this vision and the commitment in First 5 to have a graduate-led ELC workforce by 2028.
In a very competitive labour market and with low levels of unemployment, recruitment and retention is a challenge for all employers, especially in low-paid sectors.
As the State does not employ staff in ELC and SAC services, neither I nor my Department 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, which came into effect in September 2022.
Recently, the Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail accepted proposals for new ERO for Early Years Services. The Orders commenced on 24 June 2024 and increased the minimum hourly rates of pay for all grades. In addition, the ERO removed the requirement for graduates to have 3 years’ experience before they are eligible for graduate minimum pay rates. It is estimated that 53% of those working in the sector will see their wages rise as a result of the new ERO.
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 will again increase this allocation by a further 15%, for the third year of the scheme, to €331 million.
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. This group has met on four occasions since December last year.
1874. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the plans that are in place to take Ireland from 24th place in public spending on early childhood education among 24 OECD member states with consistent data on early childhood spending. [32700/24]
View answerOver the past nine budgets, investment in early learning and childcare has risen from €260 million in 2015 to €1.1 billion in 2024. Despite this unprecedented increase in investment, I accept that the level of investment is still behind international norms.
It is important to note that international comparisons on investment in early learning and childcare are to be treated with caution given the variation between countries in early learning and childcare systems, for example, the school starting age. GDP is also a misleading indicator in the Irish context. The OECD emphasises that, in the Irish context, “one should rely on other indicators” as GDP gives an inaccurate indicator of the country’s economic health. A modified GNI was recommended by the Economic Statistics Review Group as a more useful comparator. This is designed to exclude globalisation effects that are disproportionally impacting the measurement of the size of the Irish economy.
The First 5 Strategy published in 2018, commit the Government to at least doubling public spending on early learning and childcare by 2028. This target was reached in 2023, five years ahead of schedule when investment exceeded €1 billion for the first time.
A revised investment target was set in the second implementation plan for First 5, which I published in November 2023. This specifies that, over the period 2023-2028, Ireland will work to close the existing gap in public investment in early learning and care against the EU average.
1875. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he is aware of the budget submission made by an organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32736/24]
View answerI have received the Pre-Budget Submission for Budget 2025 from the Independent Youth Work Projects Dublin (IYWP-D), and its contents have been noted.
Budget 2025 is currently being considered by Government in the context of the annual estimates process. As this is ongoing, the Deputy will appreciate that it would not be appropriate for me to comment further at this stage.
1876. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the reason the respite facility for people with intellectual disabilities in Listowel, County Kerry is closed; if it will be reopened; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32740/24]
View answerAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1877. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to request the HSE to provide transport to day services for people with intellectual disabilities (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32743/24]
View answerAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1878. Deputy Marian Harkin asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for a breakdown of the staff numbers and grade in each of the CDNTs in County Sligo in 2021, 2022, 2023 and to date in 2024, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32746/24]
View answerAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
