Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Senator van Turnhout asked about the regulation of childminders and whether the new standards will continue to apply to registered childminders. The regulations apply to registered children and a particular section of the regulations will apply to childminders. The Senator also raised the issue of au pairs. I met representatives from the Migrant Rights association and I discussed their issues of concern. The issues seem to focus on employment and exploitation and as such would come under the remit of the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton. I suggested that they link to the child care committees, as I believe they would offer support for au pairs, and if difficulties arise the child care committees would be in a position to support them or make some recommendations about the support they could get. They said anecdotally that some parents overuse au pairs in childminding, the very point that Senator van Turnhout made. They are concerned about that. It highlights the need for a national campaign for young women from around the world who take up these positions so that they can know precisely what they are getting into, get as much information in advance as possible, deal with registered companies and use whatever safeguards are required. If they find themselves in an unsatisfactory situation, they need to take action and go back to the agency. Very often, it is an informal arrangement and the au pair ends up feeling he or she is being exploited.

Senator van Turnhout, in raising the issue of alcohol, made her point extremely well. I have detailed statistics. We have heard about other committee reports and other aspects of the debate on alcohol and sponsorship. I have been very keen to put on record the significant issues we have in Ireland with regard to young people and the need for those taking decisions to be very cognisant of that. A recent study, for example, shows that Irish students in the 15 and 16 age cohort report drinking a third more on their latest day drinking than the European average. That is the reality. In addition, there is a trend for Irish girls to drink as much as boys and sometimes more. Among the Irish students surveyed, in the 30 days prior to the survey, half - 52% - of the boys had drunk alcohol, 40% had had five or more drinks on a single occasion and 23% had had one or more episodes of drunkenness. If one looks at anti-social and public order offences by children and young people, one will find alcohol is a factor in 28.9% of these. There are major issues with regard to alcohol, and this needs to be debated on another day.

Senator van Turnhout said she could not imagine the agency. It will take time for people to think about the role of the Child and Family Agency as a separate entity. If I were to ask who was running child and family services, members might have a problem answering that question. We want to address that issue by putting a dedicated focus on child and family services. Gordon Jeyes is working on establishing a national assessment and referral service with referral pathways to child welfare and child protection services. That will deal with the issues outlined by the Senator. When the board is in place, the board members will work on a corporate plan that will address the points she makes.

I thank Deputy Mitchell O'Connor for her comments. The Deputy asked about standardisation of inspections, and obviously the HSE has been moving towards a standardised process throughout the country. Previously, this has been dealt with locally and on a regional basis rather than nationally. To deal with issues nationally, one needs national standards, national inspections and the same format in all of the reports. All of these issues are being addressed. The introduction of the standards and the new national qualifications later in the year will help that as well. There will be training for inspectors. At present, it is public health nurses and environmental health officers who conduct inspections. I would like to see people with child care qualifications being part of the inspectorate. We have many people doing third level degrees in child care and we have a cadre of people who are very interested in developing their skills in the child care area but do not have much opportunity, a matter that can be looked at later. The regulations were introduced in 1996, but under section 5, the welfare and care of children clearly must be part of any current inspection. This does not have to wait until the new standards are implemented. The plan is that when the new standards are finalised in September they will replace the current guidelines and inspectors will then inspect with regard to the new standards.

Deputy Conway raised the issue of planning. I agree with the Deputy that all providers should allow time for planning. It is part of the regulations. The child care committees and voluntary organisations have been supporting services to develop better planning and it is a very important part of their work.

It is my intention to introduce a mentoring programme and I am in discussions about the budgetary issues arising from its introduction. I would like to see a cadre of mentors going to child care services around the country to support the development of the staff and of the services they provide. I would hope to get support for the programme.

Deputy Byrne asked about the regulation of childminders. A childminder must be registered and subject to the regulations when she or he minds three or more children, or children are minded in a preschool setting. If people know about such services that are not registered they should be reported to the HSE or to the child care committees. Whether a childminder who looks after fewer than three children in an informal setting should be subject to the same regulations as childminders in the preschool setting is an open question. In some countries they are regulated, but in others they are not. The approach in Ireland is that it is the decision of the parent and he or she checks out the childminder. I would encourage a procedure whereby people register as childminders. Childminders can register but there has been extremely poor take-up of that option in spite of the tax provision and the other supports that have been given. Childminders themselves would have more support and greater access to training and the supports of the child care services. It has not been the tradition in Ireland to register. Even when the childminders' association, Childminding Ireland, asked people to register, only 1,250 out of a probable 50,000 childminders did so. Few of the childminders in Ireland register as such because of the informality of the arrangement between the childminder and parents.

Parents are increasingly asking who is minding their child and want to know about vetting and standards so I think we will see a move towards parents expecting childminders to be registered with child care committees.