Written Answers Nos. 76-89
76. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if funds will be made available to a service (details supplied) to ensure that it can continue to provide its services to the families in need in the Dún Laoghaire area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43280/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraI thank the Deputy for his question about the Cottage Home Family Support Service. I know he has been active in seeking a solution to the problems which the service has been experiencing, and has previously tabled questions on this issue.
I understand that, at the time when the Cottage Home made its initial request for funding, available resources for family support services had been allocated to services in the Tusla Dublin South, Dublin South East, and Wicklow area.
In 2018, Tusla provided funding of some €1.7m to the Cottage Home for its residential care service. This level of funding is being maintained in 2019. Tusla has never funded the Cottage Home family support service.
Tusla's Service Director for Dublin Mid Leinster and Service Director for Commissioning both met with The Cottage Home on 23 September, 2019 to discuss their concerns. Tusla has held several meetings with the service in the past year at a local and regional level, including a meeting which I attended. Tusla's Service Director for Dublin Mid Leinster and the local Area Manager have also visited the service on many occasions.
Prior to closure of the Cottage Home family support service, the local Tusla Area office advised the service that it did not have funding of €400,000 for the service. However, Tusla informed the Cottage Home that it had identified €38,000 that it could redirect to the Cottage Home family support service as a form of assistance. I understand the Cottage Home declined this offer. Tusla remains open to engagement with the Cottage Home with regard to family support services in the area, and potential means of assistance.
Tusla funds a range of family support services across the region. As with all State bodies, Tusla must make funding decisions based on its available budget and the most urgent needs within an area.
On receipt of notification of the closure of the service, Tusla has pledged to respond to any outstanding requests for assistance from children and families that had been using the Cottage Home's service.
I am in no doubt that the decision to close the service has been a difficult one to make, and that this outcome was not what the Deputy or the service wanted. I have met with representatives of the service and recognise the value of the service to people in the area. However, it is important that Tusla assigns its resources to the areas which it perceives to be in greatest need, ensuring the best possible outcomes for children and families.
Funding of family support services is informed by Tusla’s commissioning approach. I am confident and assured that Tusla seeks to fund services in the most beneficial, effective, efficient, proportionate and sustainable manner, in order to improve outcomes for children.
77. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to ensure quality and safety in childcare providers in County Wexford; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43105/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department has made significant strides over the last number of years in progressing the quality agenda both nationally and locally. These include, for example:-
- We have introduced a minimum qualification requirement in law which ensures that all staff must have at least a Level 5 qualification in early childhood education and care.
- We have incentivised the recruitment of graduates and 25% of the workforce now have degrees in early childhood education and care
- We have established the “Better Start” Quality Development Service that provides mentoring and training to services all across the country.
- We continue to provide a Learner Fund Bursary and Continuous Professional Development payments to help the workforce upskill themselves and we have funded the provision of training in the areas such as the curriculum and inclusion.
- We have expanded and strengthened the Inspectorate, and the number of inspections carried out by Tusla each year is nearly double what it was 5 years ago.
- We have created a register of providers, and given Tusla the power to deregister providers and to attach conditions to their registration.
- We have introduced “education-focused inspections” for the ECCE programme that are carried out by the Department of Education and Skills on behalf of my Department.
- The staff and Boards of 30 City and County Childcare Committees - including Wexford County Childcare Committee - assist my Department in ensuring that schemes and other initiatives we operate nationally meet local need.
- We have introduced regulation of school age childcare for the first time.
- We are currently consulting on a draft Childminding Action Plan which sets out how we propose to regulate the childminding sector and open up a myriad of supports to the sector to help address affordability, access and quality.
Following the recent broadcast of the RTÉ investigation, Behind Closed Doors, I wrote to the Chair of Tusla to ask what additional powers the Tusla Early Years Inspectorate might need. Following Tusla’s reply, my Department is now examining legislative options, which may include mechanisms to inform parents of inspection findings at an earlier stage, to require services to display prominently their inspection status, and to alert parents in relation to the operation of unregistered services.
Additional powers for Tusla must form part of a multi-faceted approach that also includes: movement towards the establishment of a professional regulator; additional training for those working in the sector, with a renewed focus on the child protection training that is already under way; strengthened advisory supports before and after inspections; supporting the Garda Vetting process for the sector; and additional information for parents.
In short, we need to keep strengthening the quality agenda we have been successfully pursuing over recent years. Many of the actions we need to take are set out in First 5, our Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families which I published last year.
78. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the measures included in the new national childcare scheme to address the poor pay and working conditions of those working in the childcare and early years sector. [43275/19]
Amharc ar fhreagra87. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the actions being taken to resolve issues in terms of the wage structure for childcare professionals; and her views on whether suitable qualified professionals within this field are grossly underpaid. [43269/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 78 and 87 together.
The most recent data on current pay and conditions indicates that the average hourly pay in early learning and care and school-age childcare is now €12.55 (represents May 2019). Low pay and poor working conditions in the sector remain a serious concern and impact on the quality of provision to children through their effect on the recruitment and retention of qualified staff. The lack of consistency of care caused by high staff turnover impacts directly on quality, while low wages are a constraint on plans to upskill and professionalise the workforce. My support for improved pay and conditions for early learning and care professionals has been explicit, as their role is critical to supporting children’s development and delivering better outcomes for children and families.
Budget 2020 saw a 9% increase in investment in early learning and care and school age childcare. Additional investment of €54.5m will bring spending to €628m in 2020, a 138% increase in investment over five budgets. The very welcome level of investment needs to continue if we are to offer services that are of high quality, affordable and accessible. However, increased investment by itself will not ensure that staff wages and conditions will improve.
As the State is not the employer, my Department does not pay the wages of staff working in early learning and care settings, and I cannot set wage levels or determine working conditions for these staff.
I am, however, doing all that is in my power to improve wages and working conditions in the sector. I have repeatedly called for the sector to pursue a Sectoral Employment Order. My Department will readily co-operate with such a process when it is under way.
The National Childcare Scheme will launch in November 2020. This will represent a landmark moment for the early learning and care and school age childcare sector in this country. The new scheme will provide the necessary infrastructure, for the first time, to enable increased State investment be funnelled into the sector, not only targeted at low income families, but, as increased investment becomes available, to middle income families also. It will enable us move away from being one of the most expensive countries in the OECD for childcare.
The NCS is based on hourly subsidies for different age groups. These subsidies were calculated to reflect the cost of provision and the higher costs associated with certain quality measures, eg. the highest subsidy is paid for babies where the regulatory requirement is one staff member to 3 children. The subsidies can be increased to respond to higher costs that may be linked to, for example, better terms and conditions of staff. In this way, the sophistication of the design of the scheme will allow it respond, over time, to policy development to support improved pay and conditions.
Alongside increased funding for the National Childcare Scheme in Budget 2020, I secured increased funding for the sustainability fund for the sector. This will see funding to support sustainability rising from €1.7m to €2.2m per annum. The fund will assist high quality services which are experiencing financial difficulties to transition themselves to a sustainable footing, and will also assist with needs arising in the event that the Labour Court introduces a Sectoral Employment Order.
Other recent measures I have also taken to assist employers to improve the pay and conditions of their staff include: a 7% increase in ECCE capitation in 2018; higher capitation payments for graduates and Inclusion Coordinators; annual Programme Support Payments to recognise administrative demands; support for school-age childcare which will make it easier to offer full-time, full year employment contracts; and a pilot measure to fund participation in CPD.
I have set out my vision for the sector, and a roadmap to achieve it, in First 5, which contains a commitment to develop a Workforce Development Plan. This Plan, work on which began in recent months, will identify measures to ensure appropriate numbers of early learning and care and school-age childcare staff at all levels in the sector, to achieve a graduate-led workforce by 2028, to ensure an appropriate focus on both centre based and home based services and to raise the profile of careers in the sector. As part of this work, a series of public consultations will be carried out involving those working in the sector ( centre based and home based) and other stakeholders. Plans for the consultation process will be finalised in the coming weeks. First 5 also commits to develop a new funding model for the sector, which may open up new mechanisms to influence pay and conditions in the sector.
79. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which she remains satisfied regarding the availability of sufficient placements for children deemed to be at risk; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43270/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraI would like to thank the Deputy for this important question especially as last week Tusla undertook a very successful national awareness campaign about foster care.
Once a child has been received into care, the most crucial task for a child protection social worker is to find a placement that matches that child's needs. Ideally this is with foster carers in the communities in which they live.
Social workers recruit foster carers on an ongoing basis, as they retire or leave fostering for family obligations or other reasons. A key reason for the need for ongoing recruitment is that Tusla places over 91% of children in care in foster placements.
Foster carers are needed to care for new born babies, some with serious health problems, for toddlers, individual children and sibling groups who may be upset, traumatised and frightened, and for teenagers who may not think they need, or indeed, deserve to be cared for at all.
Social workers need to recruit carers who can match the needs of children who are received into care in emergencies, sometimes during the night, for short term and respite placements and for long term care through a whole childhood and into adult life.
Foster carers need support and guidance to help them meet the differing needs of children and types of placements provided and I am very pleased to be able to tell the Deputy that Tusla has launched an out of hours phone service, where experienced social workers can provide advice and support.
A very small minority of placements are provided by private companies about 8% and these are in the main where the foster carers need significant support due to the needs of the child placed with them. Tusla approves all foster care applicants recruited by private companies.
Finally Deputy, I am sure you will join me in expressing our thanks to foster carers and professionals involved in providing care to our most vulnerable children.
81. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to assist in the planning for provision of further childcare places in County Meath. [43217/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department has had an unprecedented increase of 137% for early learning and care and school age childcare in the past five budgets. This extra investment has supported a doubling of capacity in the sector, including both ECCE and the 0-3 age group.
One of the key priorities for my Department's capital programme is supporting private and not for profit childcare providers to extend their existing services, or to establish new services, where need or demand exists.
Each year my Department reviews the Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare sector to determine how the Capital funding available can best be invested.
The decision on where to target capital spending to support policy aims is informed by an analysis of the current state of the childcare sector, learnings from previous capital programmes and feedback and input from stakeholders, including childcare providers and data from Pobal and other sources.
In my Departments 2019 capital scheme, I secured €5.9m towards the creation of new places within the Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare sector. This is expected to create 1,321 new 0-3 places and 2,308 new school age places.
Early years providers from County Meath compete alongside services from all other parts of the country for Capital Finding. All applications are appraised in a fair and impartial manner and solely on the basis of the quality of their application.
As regards capacity issues more generally, each year Pobal conducts research on behalf of my Department to examine a number of factors related to childcare services in Ireland, including capacity.
The latest Early Years Sector Profile report, based on a survey completed in May 2018, outlines a 5% vacancy rate as a percentage of children enrolled in Meath.
Pobal reports that nationally the trend for waiting lists suggests a reduction in waiting lists for older children and an increase for under twos. Pobal cautions that its data on waiting lists cannot by itself be used to inform capacity decisions as parents often place their children on more than one waiting list.
Finally, if the Deputy is aware of any specific cases of parents having difficulty accessing childcare places, they could make contact with their local City or County Childcare Committee who will be pleased to assist them.
83. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to improve funding for youth services in County Meath. [43216/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Deputy may be aware that I recently announced that an additional €2m of funding has been secured for Youth Services. This funding is inclusive of Youth Schemes, Youth Participation and a Youth Climate Justice Initiative.
As the Deputy is aware the annual Estimates process is ongoing. It would not be appropriate for me to comment at this time as funding for the provision of youth services, amongst other areas, is under consideration and, as might be expected, is subject to resources.
I have enhanced investment in youth service provision each year since I took office, increasing current funding for youth services by an additional €8.5 million in the last three years. This represents an increase of 16% compared to 2016. Included in this, funding under the Youth Service Grant Scheme has increased by almost 10% since 2016, rising to €11.126m in 2019.
In addition, I have taken on board the findings of the Value for Money and Policy Review of Youth Programmes 2014. I am prioritising the implementation of an integrated funding scheme as recommended by this Review. Consultations with a wide range of stakeholders are continuing with a view to introducing this targeted youth funding scheme imminently.
In 2019, my Department has had funding of €60.4 million that is being deployed across a broad range of programmes supporting the provision of youth services throughout the country, with a specific focus on services in communities in areas considered to be disadvantaged based on the deprivation index. With the invaluable assistance of each Education and Training Boards and national organisations, the funding from my Department supports national and local youth programmes involving approximately 1,400 youth work staff working in communities across the country, as well as some 1,500 youth clubs nationally.
The funding allocation for the targeted youth projects and services in County Meath amounted to €152,854 in 2019.
|
Meath YWI |
|
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Meath Youth Together Project |
€95,242 |
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Meath Involve |
|
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Meath Youth Project (Navan) |
€57,612 |
The Local Youth Club Grant Scheme - allocation of €131,735 for Louth Meath Education and Training Board.
ETB Youth Work Function - allocation of €119,640 for Louth Meath Education and Training Board.
ETB Technical Assistance - allocation of €23,500 for Louth Meath Education and Training Board.
Local Youth Club Equipment Scheme for voluntary clubs/groups - allocation of €64,496 for Louth Meath Education and Training Board.
Capital scheme for staff led youth services - allocation of €20,272 for Louth Meath Education and Training Board.
84. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs when the national childcare scheme will be fully operational and open to all parents. [43240/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe National Childcare Scheme will open to online applications on Wednesday 20th November, with subsidies flowing from the following Monday, 25th November. The paper based application will be available early in the new year. Children and families using the existing schemes may choose to remain on them.
In preparation for the national launch of the Scheme in November, we have been piloting the IT system since 16th September. The pilot has been highly valuable, allowing us to identify and address a number of issues.
Last week I signalled that a minor snag had been identified which blocked a small number of applications from proceeding through the system. This has required a few additional weeks to address the issue and retest the system.
I am pleased that we now plan for the Scheme to open for applications on the 20th of November. We expect around 65,000 children to benefit from the targeted component, and a further 15 - 20,000 children to be on the universal scheme. It is estimated that 7,000 children will benefit for the first time.
The pilot will continue for the coming weeks. Parents participating in the pilot will be able to register and use their subsidy award once the Scheme opens. We are also inviting providers to complete programme readiness activities in advance of the full launch so that they are ready to go when parents come to them with their awards and so that subsidies can flow as quickly as possible.
I believe that allowing these extra few weeks before launching the National Childcare Scheme is the right thing to do. The Scheme is a highly innovative landmark initiative. It is our pathway to quality, accessible, affordable childcare in Ireland, and platform to support long-term investment in universal and targeted supports.
Parents and providers deserve a robust system and a positive user experience when accessing the Scheme. It is too important for families not to deliver the best possible Scheme and system.
Parents with any queries regarding the National Childcare Scheme are encouraged to check our website www.ncs.gov.i e or to phone our Parent Information line at 01 9068530.
85. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if a national childcare service free at the point of use that meets the needs of all children in society will be introduced. [43218/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraFirst 5, the whole-of-government strategy for babies, young children and their families published in November 2018 sets out Government's intention to develop a new Funding Model to deliver additional funding to Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare providers to ensure greater levels of affordability, quality and inclusion in their services. It is planned that the new Funding Model will operate in addition to the major funding streams for the universal pre-school Early Childhood Care and Education programme and the National Childcare Scheme when it comes into operation later this year.
An Expert Group to lead the development of a new Funding Model has been appointed and a Research Partnership will support the Expert Group with evidence and analysis as well as engagement and consultation work. A key priority for the Expert Group will be to make recommendations for a mechanism to control fee rates for different types of provision for Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare. The Expert Group will hold its first meeting this month beginning a complex project that is likely to take some time to bring to fruition. Further updates will be available as the work progresses in the coming months.
The new Funding Model will be a key vehicle to achieve the vision of Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare services that are equipped to provide high-quality services for children, affordability to parents and sustainability for providers.
Budget 2020 saw a further 9.3% increase in investment in early learning and care and school-age childcare. Additional investment of €54.5m will bring annual spend to just over €628m per annum. This represents a 138% increase since 2014.
The additional investment provides for some further enhancements to the new National Childcare Scheme, including an increase in the maximum subsidised hours from September 2020 and the extension of “saver” arrangements for those in receipt of subsidies under the current schemes. The National Childcare Scheme will replace all previous targeted childcare programmes with a single, streamlined and user-friendly Scheme. In line with the principle of progressive universalism, it will provide both universal and targeted subsidies to help parents meet the cost of quality childcare.
The NCS, combined with the ECCE universal pre-school scheme, marks significant progress in making high quality and affordable childcare ore accessible to families in Ireland.
86. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the status of the Adoption (Information and Tracing) (No. 2) Bill. [43241/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy knows, there are strong views on the privacy provisions in the Adoption (Information & Tracing) Bill, 2016 and to the revised scheme set out in my proposed amendments for Committee Stage.
My legal advice is that there must be some protection of birth parents' constitutional right to privacy reflected in the legislation. There are two rights at play, the right to identity and the right to privacy, and legislation must seek to harmonise these rights. However, I fully recognise this advice is contrary to the desire of advocates for unrestricted access to identity information and to birth certificates.
During the summer, I held a number of consultations with Members of the Oireachtas and with stakeholder groups, to seek to reach a consensus which will allow the legislation to progress. Achieving consensus is proving very challenging, within the existing constitutional framework. I am considering the options now available, and I hope to be in a position to revert to Oireachtas members and stakeholders before the end of 2019.
88. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the details of each State infrastructure project that is in development or is due for completion in 2019 which is in excess of the budget assigned to the project for its current stage to date. [39522/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraAt present there are no infrastructure projects underway within my Department that are in excess of of the budget assigned. The National Childcare Scheme is the key infrastructure project underway at present. The development of this project has entailed a complex programme of work encompassing legislative, ICT, governance, administrative and communications work-streams.
The Scheme will open to online applications on Wednesday 20th November, with subsidies flowing from the following Monday, 25th November. The paper based application will be available in early 2020.
The budget currently allocated to the scheme is €14.3m and the spend to date is approximately €12m.
89. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the status of the efforts by her Department to create more effective and appropriate childminding regulations. [43242/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraOn 29th August, I launched the Draft Childminding Action Plan, for the purpose of public consultation. The Draft Childminding Action Plan aims to bring all childminders within the scope of public funding, supports, and regulations. Up to now most childminders have been exempt from regulation and therefore would be excluded from public funding such as the National Childcare Scheme.
Central to the Draft Childminding Action Plan is a proposal to develop new Regulations that are specific to childminders and that are proportionate and appropriate to the home and family setting in which childminders work.
The Draft Action Plan is firmly based on the recommendations of the Working Group on Reforms and Supports for the Childminding Sector, which I established in 2016 and which submitted its report to me last year. The Working Group was chaired by a representative of childminders indicating my commitment to putting childminders front and centre of decisions on their future and the future of the service they offer children and families.
The Draft Action Plan proposes a phased approach over a period of years, with access to the National Childcare Scheme to be opened to childminders as early as possible, and with a significant lead-in time for any requirements being introduced.
A substantial consultation process is under way and this will inform the regulations. The process has a strong focus on hearing from childminders as I am keen to get their feedback on the proposals set out in the Draft Action Plan. An online survey and call for submissions opened at the end of August. An Open Policy Debate aimed at a wide range of stakeholders, including childminders, took place on 16th October. A series of focus groups of childminders, all taking place in the evenings to facilitate the participation of childminders, is being organised at county level by County Childcare Committees from late October into November.
Once the consultation process has been completed, and the feedback has been taken on board, I intend to bring a revised Childminding Action Plan to Government, with the intention of publishing a completed plan in the coming months. Work will then immediately advance on the new regulations.
