Seán Sherlock
Ceist:1255. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will address matters raised in correspondence (details supplied). [43586/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 8 September 2022
Ceisteanna (1255)
Freagraí scríofa
I believe that childminders play a central role in provision of both early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) in Ireland. I recognise that childminders are highly valued by many parents because of the home-from-home setting, their strong and lasting relationships, and the flexibility they can offer. Many families prefer to use childminders, while for some families, in areas where centre-based care is either not available or its opening hours do not match the family’s childcare needs, childminding is the only option.
The limitation of public funding schemes to Tusla-registered ELC and SAC providers helps to ensure that public funding is provided where there is assurance of the quality of provision. While only a small number of childminders are currently required to register with Tusla under the Child Care Act 1991, it is intended that the National Action Plan for Childminding 2021-2028 will result in the opening up of the National Childcare Scheme to a much wider cohort of childminders.
The National Action Plan for Childminding 2021-2028, which I launched in April 2021, sets out a plan for extending State support and regulation to childminding on a phased basis over the coming years. The overall objective of the National Action Plan for Childminding is to improve access to high quality and affordable ELC and SAC through childminding.
To do this, the Action Plan sets out an incremental and supportive pathway to regulation. This will enable more childminders to access Government subsidies, making their services more affordable to parents. It will also enable them to access a variety of supports to assist them in meeting regulatory and quality requirements. The National Action Plan for Childminding commits to develop new childminder-specific regulations that are proportionate and appropriate to the home setting in which childminders work.
The Action Plan has a number of specific objectives including:
- Enable a far greater number of parents who use childminders to benefit from subsidies under the National Childcare Scheme.
- Support quality assurance of childminders and safeguarding of children through extending the scope of regulation and inspection to all paid, non-relative childminders.
- Provide greater recognition of childminders and develop appropriate childminder regulations and inspection processes to reflect the home environment in which childminders work.
- Provide a supportive, phased transition process, to facilitate the largest possible number of childminders to enter the regulated sector, the sphere of quality assurance, and access to Government subsidies, while recognising the time and supports required for this reform.
- Support retention and recruitment of childminders.
In relation to the suggestion of a tax credit for parents for early learning and childcare, research by the Inter-Departmental Group (IDG) on Future Investment in Childcare has shown that supply-side measures (such as the National Childcare Scheme), rather than tax credits to parents, represent the most effective use of Exchequer investment. This conclusion was based on international experience and on the ability to leverage quality and control fees for parents through supply-side measures i.e. subsidies paid directly to providers to reduce the childcare fee to parents. For this reason, the National Childcare Scheme is the primary mechanism for supporting affordability for parents, and the National Action Plan for Childminding aims to enable more childminders to take part in the National Childcare Scheme over the coming years.