Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 February 2023
429. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth how he intends to address the shortage of childcare places currently available to parents in rural and urban areas; the specific supports and incentives he will put in place to ensure that experienced childminders do not leave the sector; and how new childminders will be encouraged to join the sector. [6789/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraEnsuring high quality early learning and childcare is accessible and affordable is a key priority for me and there are a number of funding programmes available through my Department that seek to improve capacity.
Since 2015, significant increases in State investment in early learning and childcare have given rise to a substantial growth in the numbers of children participating in these services. Every year, more than 100,000 children participate in the universal pre-school programme (ECCE) and more than 105,000 children are now benefitting from the National Childcare Scheme (NCS).
In addition to this, a range of other steps are being taken by my Department to address issues of under-supply.
Some €70m has been allocated to my Department through the revised National Development Plan (NDP) – with the majority of this funding earmarked for new places.
In addition, the new Core Funding scheme, introduced on 15 September last year, has given rise to a significant growth in capacity - with initial analysis showing a significant capacity growth for certain cohorts (such as babies and toddlers) and in areas where there has been significant pressure on places.
To meet the cost of this capacity growth, I recently announced that the original allocation for Core Funding will be increased to €259 million for Year 1 of the Scheme. In addition, the full year value of Core Funding will increase by €28 million to €287 million in Year 2 of the Scheme.
Funding earmarked for the Scheme in Year 2 will be informed by the emerging data from Year 1 and may focus on promoting further capacity expansion.
In April of last year, City/County Childcare Committees (CCCs) undertook a nationwide survey of capacity in early learning and childcare services. This survey was followed in May by the Annual Early Years Sector Profile Survey that is undertaken by Pobal.
Preliminary analysis of the latest data captured by CCCs and Pobal reveal a drop in vacancy rates across the country – with the national vacancy rate now averaging at 13.3%.
The network of 30 CCCs across the country are in a position to match children and families to services operating with vacant places. In addition, the CCCs has been mobilised to engage proactively with services to identify vacant places and to explore possibilities for expansion among services, particularly where there is unmet need. Parents experiencing difficulty in relation to their early learning and childcare needs should contact their CCC for assistance. Contact details for CCCs may be found on www.myccc.ie.
In relation to supports and incentives for childminders, the National Action Plan for Childminding 2021-2028 sets out a plan for extending regulation and State supports, including access to the National Childcare Scheme, to childminders, on a phased basis. A specific objective of the National Action Plan is to support the recruitment and retention of childminders.
The National Action Plan for Childminding commits to 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. It is important that an incremental approach is taken to ensure that childminders are supported to engage with regulation and quality development, and are not driven out of the sector. I would like to stress the commitment in the Action Plan to respecting what is different about childminding, by developing new regulations and a new inspection model that are proportionate and appropriate to the home setting in which childminders work, and by ensuring that training and other supports are tailored to childminders’ needs and working hours.
Communication activities outlined in the Action Plan include the promotion of childminding as a career, to support recruitment of new childminders into the sector, particularly in the context of the increasing support for childminding as a profession during the course of the Action Plan. The promotion of childminding as a career will form part of the wider effort to raise the profile of careers in early learning and care and in school-age childcare, which is a First 5 commitment and forms part of Nurturing Skills, the Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare 2022-2028.
