Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 3 December 2020
129. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the way in which he plans to support the early years sector in County Meath, particularly in relation to staff, pay and capitation grants in view of the population growth in the county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39728/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government has introduced a number of measures to support early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) services during these unprecedented times. The Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), introduced in August, provides a flat-rate subsidy to qualifying employers based on numbers of eligible employees on payroll; and a reduced rate of employer PRSI. ELC and SAC services registered with Tusla are exempt from EWSS turnover requirements. The rate of subsidy was revised in October and early learning and childcare services with EWSS now have approximately 80% of their payroll costs covered, this is before they receive any parental income or funding from Government schemes. The EWSS thus allows early learning and childcare services to operate sustainably in a context of lower occupancy and higher delivery costs due to COVID-19, and without having to pass these additional costs on to parents.
The EWSS was one of many measures introduced in 2020 that have been highly successful in protecting the sector. Despite concerns expressed that hundreds of services would close, 99.9% of services have remained open with Government support. Measures included the Temporary Wage Subsidy Childcare Scheme, a Reopening Support Grant, a Capital Grant and the Covid-19 Sustainability Support Fund. This latter fund supports services whose viability is still negatively affected by the pandemic and for which all the other measures have proved inadequate. It is the first time that my Department’s sustainability funding has been made available to both private and community providers. My Department also oversees a Case Management process through which local City and County Childcare Committees and Pobal support services in difficulty with expert advice and, in some circumstances, financial assistance.
With regard to support for the sector generally, my Department continues to provide all subsidy schemes at capitation and subsidy rates that were recently proven by Crowe as appropriate to meet providers costs. These include the ECCE pre-school programme, the National Childcare Scheme and the outgoing schemes, the Community Childcare Subvention Plus Saver Programme and the Training and Employment Childcare Saver Programme. Since 2015, investment in the sector has increased by 141% enabling some providers to double in size. On average, services have grown from having 33 places to having 47 in 2019.
One of my priorities is now to build on this and in delivering on the commitment in First 5 to double investment before 2028, I want to make sure we deliver on the objectives of affordability and quality with that investment.
Work is underway to develop a new funding model which will set out how best to support quality, affordability and accessibility of services with additional investment. I am looking forward to the group's outputs next Autumn and welcome the research they have already published on international learning that will assist in decision making.
In the coming weeks, I will receive an Interim Report from the Workforce Development Group. Their work will ultimately set out a plan to, for example, improve recruitment and retention, provide a career framework, make a career in the sector a respected and valued one, and ensure that staff are encouraged to engage with continuous professional development.
As the State is not the employer, the Deputy will appreciate that my Department does not set wage levels nor determine working conditions for staff in the sector. However, my Department has, over a number of years, provided a range of supports to service providers to enable them to improve wages and working conditions, for example, the increase in ECCE capitation in September 2018, €19m in Programme Support Payments annually and twice the number of services in receipt of ECCE higher capitation than when it was introduced. In addition, the Programme for Government includes a commitment to the creation of a Joint Labour Committee for the sector, which should offer a mechanism through which a pay agreement could be achieved. My officials are working closely with SIPTU, IBEC and other stakeholders to try to progress this as soon as possible.
I look forward to the work of the Funding Model Expert Group and the Workforce Plan Development Group knitting together with a possible JLC to provide a systematic and comprehensive plan to achieve the best from investment over the coming years. This will deliver for children and families, staff and providers, the economy and society.
