Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 February 2007
155 Mr. O’Connor asked the Minister for Health and Children the financial and other support she has given to the community childcare sector; her plans to continue that support; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6987/07]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the deputy will be aware, I have responsibility for the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-2006 (EOCP) and the National Childcare Investment Programme 2006-2010 (NCIP), which are being implemented by the Office of the Minister for Children.
The EOCP 2000-2006, which is part funded by the European Union and for which the budget is now €500 million was created to develop childcare to meet the needs of parents in employment, education and training. This Programme incorporates the Childcare Measures of the two Regional Operational Programmes of the National Development Plan 2000-2006. To end December 2006, approximately €381 million had been expended on developing childcare under the National Development Plan — €136 million in capital expenditure and €246 million on current expenditure. Community and voluntary projects accounted for approximately 92% of this expenditure and private projects 8%.
Nearly 32,000 new childcare places were delivered by grant beneficiaries to end June 2006. This represents approximately 102% of the target set for the Programme i.e. (31,300 new childcare places). The overall total number of childcare places, including new places, receiving grant aid under the Programme now stands at over 56,000 places. Over 2,500 childcare staff are receiving support under the staffing grant scheme of which approximately 98.5% are female and 1.5% are male.
City/County Childcare Committees delivered 640 accredited courses with 8,418 participants and National Voluntary Childcare Organisations 209 accredited courses with 2908 participants with funding provided under the Programme between January 2005 and June 2006. The City/County Committees and National Voluntary Childcare Organisations report that approximately 75% of participants have completed such training courses over the same period.
Community and Voluntary Groups make up the bulk of grant beneficiaries under the Programme, representing approximately 60% of successful applicants under the Programme up to mid 2006. Approximately one third of grant beneficiaries were located in the BMW Region and the other two thirds in the SAE Region.
The closure of the EOCP is being managed in a way which seeks to facilitate grant applicants to the greatest extent possible given the various deadlines which projects must meet to be in compliance. Capital grant applicants who had received indicative funding approval under the EOCP, but who did not meet the contractual deadline of 31 December 2006, have been invited to transfer to the NCIP with account taken of all relevant preparatory work under the EOCP. This is intended to facilitate applicants who transfer to the new programme.
The smooth transition which is taking place between the EOCP and NCIP, has been possible because of the introduction of the NCIP in January 2006 in advance of the EOCP's closure. With an allocation of €575 million, the NCIP is a key element of the National Childcare Strategy 2006-2010, the aim of which is to deliver a more comprehensive approach to early years care and education. The NCIP is designed to deliver 50,000 additional childcare places, with a greater focus on pre-school places for 3-4 year olds and school age childcare. Childcare places are provided either through community based/not for profit childcare groups or by private providers. Applications for capital grants under the NCIP are assessed by reference to a number of criteria; chiefly the nature and extent of the need locally for the service proposed, the applicant's capacity to deliver the project proposed and value for money. All proposals are expected to demonstrate how they will increase the supply of quality childcare and community projects are expected to have a focus on disadvantage. One strand of the Programme focuses on private providers, with a maximum capital grant of €100,000 per facility. There is also a maximum of €1 million available per facility for community based/not for profit providers.
During 2007, EOCP staffing grants continue to be provided towards the staffing costs of childcare workers in community based childcare facilities in disadvantaged areas. These grants help to ensure that less advantaged parents in these areas have access to quality childcare to facilitate access to education, training and employment opportunities. A new programme of staffing grants under the NCIP is expected to be announced during 2007 and will be informed by the outcome of a Value for Money Review of the EOCP which is currently in progress. The Review is expected to be completed in the first half of 2007, following which the procedures and criteria governing the new grant scheme will be made available both generally and to existing staffing grant recipients.
156 Mr. O’Connor asked the Minister for Health and Children the achievements of the equal opportunities childcare programme under the National Development Plan 2000 to 2006; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6988/07]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy will be aware, I have responsibility for the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-2006. This Programme incorporates the Childcare Measures of the two Regional Operational Programmes of the National Development Plan 2000-2006. To end December 2006, approximately €381 million had been expended on developing childcare under the National Development Plan — €136 million in capital expenditure and €246 million on current expenditure. Community and voluntary projects accounted for approximately 92% of this expenditure and private projects 8%.
Nearly 32,000 new childcare places were delivered by grant beneficiaries to end June 2006. This represents approximately 102% of the target set for the Programme i.e. (31,300 new childcare places). The overall total number of childcare places, including new places, receiving grant aid under the Programme now stands at over 56,000 places. Over 2,500 childcare staff are receiving support under the staffing grant scheme of which approximately 98.5% are female and 1.5% are male.
City/County Childcare Committees delivered 640 accredited courses with 8,418 participants and National Voluntary Childcare Organisations 209 accredited courses with 2908 participants with funding provided under the Programme between January 2005 and June 2006. The City/County Committees and National Voluntary Childcare Organisations report that approximately 75% of participants have completed such training courses over the same period.
Community and Voluntary Groups make up the bulk of grant beneficiaries under the Programme, representing approximately 60% of successful applicants under the Programme up to mid 2006. Approximately one third of grant beneficiaries were located in the BMW Region and the other two thirds in the SAE Region.
The types of services offered by grant beneficiaries include Preschool/Playgroup 64%, Crèche/Nursery 38%, After School 36%, Montessori 27% and Naíonra (Irish Language Pre-School) 6%. The proportion of services offering full day care has increased from 30.7% as reported in 2002 to 39.6% as reported in 2005. The average operating hours for services have increased from 29.6 hours per week to 34.5 and the proportion of services offering more than 40 hours of care per week has increased from 32.4% to 41.1% over the period. As a result many parents now have greatly improved access and choice of childcare and accordingly beneficiaries have reported an increase in the percentage of parents engaged in employment, education or training up from 77.1% in 2002 to 80.7% in 2005.
The funding committed to date under the Programme includes the provision of almost €108.2 million towards childcare services operating in RAPID/ CLÁR areas specially designated for urban/rural regeneration. In excess of 20% of beneficiaries under the Programme are now from designated RAPID and approximately 11% are from CLÁR designated areas.
A total of 9,552 new childcare places, of which 3,549 are full time and 6,003 are part time, were created in RAPID/CLÁR designated areas to end June 2006. In addition 164 new facilities were built and 531 facilities upgraded in designated areas over the same period. There are 1,163 childcare staff receiving support, of which 492 are full time and 671 are part time, under the Programme in services located RAPID/ CLÁR designated areas.
The number of services which reported caring for at least one child from a one parent family rose from 459 services in 2002 to 891 services in 2005. Over the same period, the number of children from such families attending services supported under the Programme rose from 3,780 to 7,313. This represents approximately 18% of all children attending services supported under the Programme.
The number of services which reported that there was at least one Traveller child among the children attending their service more than doubled from 84 services in 2002 to 191 services in 2005. In addition the number of services which reported that there was at least one child attending who was a member of an ethnic minority was 660 services or 53.4% of the 2005 total. The total number of children from ethnic minorities attending services supported under the Programme was 3,327.
Approximately, €100 million in expenditure was reported by grant beneficiaries in the BMW region to end June 2006. More than €219 million in expenditure was reported by beneficiaries in the SAE region for the same period. Nearly 10,872 new childcare places, and more than 2,100 quality enhanced places, have been created in the BMW Region to end June 2006. Over the same period approximately 20,878 new places, of which nearly 50% are full time places, and more than 3,500 quality enhanced places were created in the SAE region. Over the same period 231 new facilities were build and 470 facilities upgraded in the BMW region. In the SAE region 439 new facilities were built and 797 facilities upgraded.
157 Mr. O’Connor asked the Minister for Health and Children the progress to date of the childcare strategy launched in Budget 2006; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6989/07]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn Budget 2006, the Government introduced a number of significant new developments under a new National Childcare Strategy 2006-2010. As part of these developments and to facilitate the delivery of the new Strategy a new Office of the Minister for Children (OMC) was established.
A key component of the National Childcare Strategy is the €575 million National Childcare Investment Programme (NCIP) 2006-2010. The NCIP succeeds the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme (EOCP) 2000-2006 and unlike the EOCP, the NCIP is entirely Exchequer funded. The NCIP commenced in January 2006 in advance of the closure of the EOCP, thereby facilitating the smooth transition between the closure of the EOCP and the introduction of its successor.
The NCIP aims to provide a proactive response to the development of quality childcare supports and services, which are grounded in an understanding of local needs. The Programme has a target to create 50,000 additional childcare places with a greater focus on pre-school places for 3 to 4 year olds and school age childcare. The additional places will include 5,000 after-school places and 10,000 pre-school education places.
Childcare places are provided by community based not for profit childcare groups and by private childcare providers. One strand of the Programme is directed towards private providers, with maximum capital grant assistance of €100,000 available per facility. Another strand is directed towards community based not for profit providers, with maximum capital grant assistance of €1 million available per facility.
Since the beginning of the NCIP in January 2006, over €40 million has been allocated in capital grant assistance countrywide, which includes almost €12.5 million to 32 community based not for profit childcare groups and almost €21.5 million to 285 private childcare providers. When fully drawn down this funding is expected to lead to the creation of almost 10,000 new childcare places and to the enhancement of over 2,800 existing places. To date, more than 1,000 "Expression of Interest Forms" have been submitted to the 33 City/County Childcare Committees (CCCs), seeking capital funding under the NCIP. These factors are indicative of how successful the NCIP has been to date in stimulating interest in childcare provision.
During 2007, EOCP staffing grants continue to be provided towards the staffing costs of childcare workers, in community based childcare facilities in disadvantaged areas. These grants help to ensure that less advantaged parents in these areas, have access to quality childcare to facilitate access to education, training and employment opportunities. A new programme of staffing grants under the NCIP is expected to be announced during 2007 and will be informed by the outcome of a Value for Money Review of the EOCP which is currently in progress. The Review is expected to be completed in the first half of 2007, following which the procedures and criteria governing the new grant scheme will be made available both generally and to existing staffing grant recipients.
Under the NCIP, the role of the CCCs has been expanded to enable greater flexibility and responsiveness to local needs. This new role includes the assessment of childcare needs across their City or County and supporting the development of quality childcare in areas where service gaps are identified. To this end, additional funding was allocated to the CCCs by my Department for the implementation of their 2006 Supplementary Action Plans and was followed by the allocation of increased funding for the implementation of their 2007 Action Plans. This funding is facilitating the recruitment of additional staff to take account of the expanded role.
A total of over €11 million has been allocated to the CCCs for the implementation of their 2007 Action Plans. In addition, to the role the CCCs play in the co-ordination of quality childcare provision at county/city level, they are mandated to address gaps in childcare training provision. At present, childcare training is delivered by a number of providers including FÁS, VECs and some third level institutions. The National Childcare Strategy 2006-2010 includes a commitment to develop a National Childcare Training Strategy in order to co-ordinate the provision of quality training to meet the growing needs of the childcare sector and to deliver on the targets set for additional childcare places under the NCIP. A target of 17,000 childcare training places has been set under the National Childcare Training Strategy 2006-2010 and the Department of Education and Science, through the OMC, is in the process of developing this Strategy. An Expert Advisory Group has been established and will be supported by a number of representative sub-groups from across the sector. It is expected that this Expert Group will report its findings later this year.
A new Early Childcare Supplement (ECS) of €1,000 per annum was introduced for all children less than 6 years of age from April 2006. This is a direct, non-taxable payment of €250 per quarter year, in respect of each eligible child. In the last quarter of 2006, the ECS was paid in respect of 396,000 children.
A new Childminding Relief was also introduced in Budget 2006. Where an individual minds up to three children in the minder's own home, no tax will be payable on the childminding earnings, provided the amount is less than €10,000 per annum. This threshold was increased to €15,000 in Budget 2007.
To further support parents, Paid and Unpaid Maternity Leave was increased by 4 weeks in 2006 and will be increased by a further 4 weeks in 2007. This will bring the total duration of Paid Maternity Leave to 26 weeks and the total duration of Unpaid Maternity Leave to 16 Weeks from March 2007.
158 Dr. Devins asked the Minister for Health and Children the funding she has allocated for the provision of childcare facilities in County Sligo under the equal opportunities childcare programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6990/07]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy will be aware, I have responsibility for the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-2006 (EOCP) and its successor, the National Childcare Investment Programme 2006-2010 (NCIP), which are being implemented by the Office of the Minister for Children.
Over €14.75 million has been allocated under the EOCP to childcare in Sligo to date. This includes an allocation of €3.88 million for staffing grants, over €9.1 million for community not-for-profit capital grants and €1.44 million to support Sligo County Childcare Committee in its role to co-ordinate and develop childcare provision and training locally. Spending to date supports 981 childcare places, including 683 new childcare places, in Sligo and also provides staffing grants to support 68 new staff.
The EOCP, which is part funded by the European Union and for which the budget is now €500 million, was created to develop childcare to meet the needs of parents in employment, education and training. The EOCP operates under three sub-measures to meet its aims and provides grant assistance in the form of:
capital funding for both community not for profit groups and for private providers;
staffing supports for community not-for-profit groups in disadvantaged areas; and
supports for Quality Improvement projects, including supports to the City/County Childcare Committees and the National Voluntary Childcare Organisations.
The EOCP is now closed to new applications and all new capital and staffing funding applications will be made to the NCIP.
159 Ms Hoctor asked the Minister for Health and Children the steps she has taken to ensure there is no delay in the provision of funding for childcare facilities in view of the closure of the equal opportunities childcare programme. [6991/07]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the deputy will be aware, I have responsibility for the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-2006 (EOCP) and the National Childcare Investment Programme 2006-2010 (NCIP), which are being implemented by the Office of the Minister for Children.
The closure of the EOCP is being managed in a way which seeks to facilitate grant applicants to the greatest extent possible given the various deadlines which projects must meet to be in compliance. All EOCP capital grant applications were required to be in contract by the end of 2006 in order to qualify for grant drawdown in 2007. All applicants who met this deadline will be required to drawdown their grant funding by the end of 2007. Capital grant applicants who had received indicative funding approval under the EOCP, but who did not meet the contractual deadline, have been invited to transfer to the NCIP with account taken of all relevant preparatory work under the EOCP. This is intended to facilitate applicants who transfer to the new programme.
The smooth transition which is taking place between the EOCP and NCIP, has been possible because of the introduction of the NCIP in January 2006 in advance of the EOCP's closure. With an allocation of €575 million, the NCIP is a key element of the National Childcare Strategy 2006-2010 the aim of which is to deliver a more comprehensive approach to early years care and education. The NCIP is designed to deliver 50,000 additional childcare places, with a greater focus on pre-school places for 3-4 year olds and school age childcare. Childcare places are provided either through community based/not for profit childcare groups or by private providers. Applications for capital grants under the NCIP are assessed by reference to a number of criteria; chiefly the nature and extent of the need locally for the service proposed, the applicant's capacity to deliver the project proposed and value for money. All proposals are expected to demonstrate how they will increase the supply of quality childcare and community projects are expected to have a focus on disadvantage. There is a strong focus on private provider applications, with a maximum capital grant of €100,000 per facility. There is also a maximum of €1 million available per facility for community based/not for profit providers.
During 2007, EOCP staffing grants continue to be provided towards the staffing costs of childcare workers in community based childcare facilities in disadvantaged areas. These grants help to ensure that less advantaged parents in these areas have access to quality childcare to facilitate access to education, training and employment opportunities. A new programme of staffing grants under the NCIP is expected to be announced during 2007 and will be informed by the outcome of a Value for Money Review of the EOCP which is currently in progress. The Review is expected to be completed in the first half of 2007, following which the procedures and criteria governing the new grant scheme will be made available both generally and to existing staffing grant recipients.
