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Ministerial Meetings

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 January 2019

Tuesday, 22 January 2019

Ceisteanna (586, 587)

Kathleen Funchion

Ceist:

586. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she met with particular childcare providers in order to inform early years policy; if so, the number of providers; the format that outreach was made in; and the outcomes in this regard. [2514/19]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Kathleen Funchion

Ceist:

587. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to continue outreach with childcare providers that would wish to be involved in the future of policy formation regarding the early years sector; if so, the format in which this will be carried out; and the way in which childcare providers that would like to advise her Department on their experiences can ensure that their advice and opinions will be relayed to her. [2515/19]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

I propose to take Questions Nos. 586 and 587 together.

As Minister, I have committed a significant amount of my time to meeting users and providers of services that we support and those who advocate for new and alternative policies in these programme areas; including stakeholders in the early learning and care and school age childcare sectors. The Early Years Division of my Department has also developed a strong track record for working closely with a wide range of stakeholders as we collectively seek to build the best possible early learning and care and school age childcare sector for children and their families. 

Progress made in recent years on the development of policy has been achieved in collaboration and consultation with the sector. The changes underway to achieve our mutual goals can only be achieved by working together and the Government's support for the shared vision with the sector has been evidenced by the 117% increase in investment over the past four budgets.

On becoming Minister for Children and Youth Affairs I established the Early Years Forum so that my officials and I could communicate on a structured basis with stakeholders from the sector. Members include, for example, representatives of private and community providers, academics, representative of children's rights organisations and parent representatives. This Forum, which I chair, meets at least biannually to discuss and inform early years policy. Member of the group in turn communicate with their members to ensure a good two-way cascade of information and influence.

My Department funds 30 City and County Childcare Committees around the country which are sources of valuable local information on the sector. Both the staff of these organisations and their boards have vast insight into the challenges of the sector. I regularly visit these organisations to hear from them how we can continue to improve policy. My officials meet with their umbrella organisation, CCI, on a regular basis to ensure that policy is informed by experiences on the ground. My Department also funds a number of National Voluntary Childcare Organisations which again bring matters to our attention and with which we consult regularly. I meet  some of these in structured meetings or as part of visits or conferences I engage with.

Key pieces of policy work such as the preparation of our new 10 year strategy, First 5, or the Affordable Childcare Scheme, warrant additional focused engagement with the sector.

The Affordable Childcare Scheme  (ACS) was first informed by an Open Policy Debate in 2015 as part of the work of the Inter-Departmental Group on Future investment in Childcare. Various representatives of the sector made a valuable contribution to the debate and the IDG report reflects their input. During the development of the policy of the scheme there was a public consultation and more than 4,000 responses were received and analysed.  The ACS project currently utilises a number of smaller working groups of key stakeholders to inform ongoing development. For example, the ACS team has conducted focus groups, completed usability testing and chaired working groups directly with parents and sample groups of childcare providers to test, review and refine the scheme in an iterative process to design a system that will be user friendly for both parents and childcare providers.

Furthermore regarding the ACS, there will be several hundred training and information events for childcare providers and their staff announced shortly to prepare for the launch of the scheme later this year. In 2017, eight roadshow events took place nationwide, attended by almost 1,000 childcare practitioners, to discuss plans at that stage, including the September 2017 measures and the introduction of Programme Support Payments.  Feedback at the events influenced policy formulation.

As part of the development of First 5: A Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families, a number of early learning and care providers and provider representative organisations participated in opportunities for engagement, including at two Open Policy Debates that I participated in.  At one of these events, I asked two providers, one private and one community, to address the group of approximately 100 stakeholders, sharing their personal and professional reflections on what they would like to see in the Strategy.

 The recently published School Age Childcare Regulations were informed by a working group which included sectoral representatives. 

As Minister I regularly speak at conferences where I also have the opportunity to be briefed on important concerns and developments.

I am satisfied that the time my officials and I commit to engaging with the sector is both critical and valuable.  I believe that good engagement via a collaborative approach will assist us to tackle the many challenges and opportunities facing the early learning and care sector in Ireland. We are committed to  continuing to develop ways to most effectively engage with stakeholders. 

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