Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will offer a summary of some of the key points before engaging in prelegislative scrutiny of the affordable child care scheme. I appreciate the fact that the committee was willing to meet me so quickly. It is good to be here with it, as I have always found this process helpful to our work.

As members know, there is an urgent need to address the high cost of child care. We require legislation in order to implement the scheme that we announced last year. Although it is critical that we get the scheme up and running as swiftly as possible, it is also important that we get the legislation right, in which regard I value the committee's input.

The affordable child care scheme is a landmark measure. It signals a comprehensive reorganisation of the various child care supports that have been offered by the Department and, prior to that, the Office of the Minister for Children. The funding that I secured in budget 2017 will allow us to take a major step forward in terms of accessibility, affordability and quality. It will also assist in addressing my key concerns of supporting the objectives of reducing child poverty and enabling labour market participation. Although what we are putting in place now and the moneys that we secured for 2017 are only a first step, they represent a major leap.

One of the scheme's key features is that it is intended to be simple for parents, who will be able to apply online, and child care providers, in that once a subsidy has been approved, it will be paid directly to the providers on the parents' behalf. A great deal of complex work must be done in order to enable this simplification.

Another key aspect is the provision of subsidies with universal and targeted elements. This is the best way to offer a progressive approach to the development of a national child care infrastructure. For the first time, it will provide a degree of financial support for those facing the highest child care costs, especially for those with children under three years of age. That it will remove the stigma that can attach to targeted schemes is a key priority for my Department and me. The targeted element will focus subsidies on families with the lowest incomes, allowing them to receive the greatest benefit. We have placed a net threshold at a level that achieves the correct balance for the scheme's introduction. In this way, the subsidy is available for low-income parents. Those who receive the highest subsidy levels will be those under the relative poverty line. There are also commitments to targeted subsidies as we move up the ladder to middle-income earners. We are trying to get the balance right so as to take account of families' different socioeconomic backgrounds and concerns. This is a first step.

The subsidy is designed to wrap around school and early childhood care and education, ECCE, provision. It is important to remind members that subsidised hours of care and education will be either 15 hours or 40 hours per week. The standard 15 hours of subsidy will be available to all families regardless of whether the parents are engaged in work or study. The enhanced 40-hour limit will apply where the parent or parents are engaged in work or study. We are trying to make the definitions of "work" and "study" as inclusive as possible.

We have conducted extensive consultation on the scheme, most recently as last November, and have received more than 4,000 responses. There was a high level of support for the proposed scheme in those 4,000 responses. However, a concern was raised with the Department by parents and providers about the proposal that no more than 48 weeks of subsidy would be payable per year. This proposal would create funding difficulties for providers and would not fit with their business model of income coming in and costs going out on a 52-week basis. We have responded to this and adjusted the proposals accordingly, but I would welcome the committee's views on the matter. The adjustment allows the same amount of subsidy to be payable on a 52-week basis rather than across 48 weeks, so it is budget neutral.

Issues of quality, cost, provision, conditions and pay arise in our discussion of the Bill, so I will remind members that we will engage in an independent review of the cost of quality child care. What the legislation puts in place is an infrastructure through which we can continue investing as the years pass. It is accepted internationally that, if high quality services with the best outcomes for children are desired, then valuing the workforce is critical. The current terms and conditions for child care practitioners do not reflect the importance of their work. I have met them and we have engaged in the early years forum.

We have also met with Patricia King, head of ICTU, and other members of IMPACT and SIPTU. This is a key aspect of my priority to support the quality workforce in 2017 and with budget 2018 negotiations to ensure it can continue. The independent review is important and will help us determine the basis for the costs for child care provision.

The issue around the sustainability of community services is critical for me and my team. It has been raised consistently since we announced the portable child care scheme and as we are moving to put in place legislation. We are looking at ways of ensuring the support for these services. I acknowledge that the financial situation of many community services has been further stretched by the move to require FETAC level 5 qualifications of all staff who work directly with children. The impact is large for community services which previously relied on community employment schemes.

A large part of the financial challenge, however, is that community services face low revenue. The highest subsidy rate available under the community child care subvention is €95 per week. When we move to the new scheme parents may now receive a subsidy of between €150 and €205 per week, depending on the age of the child. We anticipate more parents will use child care, meaning more income will go into community services and accordingly supporting the business model.

As well as beginning work on the independent review of costs, officials in my Department are examining the potential to bring more child minders into the scheme while ensuring quality. A departmental group will discuss this with Childminding Ireland.

The Government wants to support all the ways parents choose to mind their children. For stay-at-home parents, we are reducing some of the barriers for those who want to move into learning paths and the workforce. At the same time, other Departments are putting in place supports for these parents. This will all come together in the first ever national early years strategy, which will take a joined-up approach, outlining how my Department, with the Department of Social Protection and others, will ensure parents have a choice in how they care for their children and are supported in this.

In parallel with the legislative process, officials in my Department and staff in Pobal are already working hard to develop the business processes and IT systems which will make the affordable child care scheme possible. That work involves close co-operation with officials of the Department of Social Protection and the Revenue Commissioners, as well as support from a range of other Departments and agencies.

In addition, preparation for the scheme has already involved consultation with a range of stakeholders. I thank all involved in that process to date.