Ms Marian Quinn:

Regarding Senator Seery Kearney's point on qualifications, many different courses have been offered over the last number of years to childminders and centre-based staff. It is about developing those as micro-credentials, even if just two credits are given. Childminders have engaged with a quality assurance process, QAP, supporting quality over a number of years. There is work that goes into that, such as attendance at workshops etc. If that had been developed into a micro-credential it would have met documented learning outcomes and childminders would have completed a certain amount of credits already. It is the same if something is going to be done about child protection or early years services; we have the quality regulatory framework. If all those courses are accredited, before we know it we would seamlessly have, at least a foundation, if not a level 5, qualification. That is one matter that could be looked at.

As Deputy Ward mentioned, regulation does cost more. It is worth making the national childcare scheme, NCS, accessible to families to keep the cost down. Two things are needed. There will need to be grants and supports for childminders to be able to implement and meet the regulatory needs, whatever they are and as minimal as they should be. For example, capital investment might be needed by childminders to buy some kind of equipment in order to meet fire safety requirements and so on. From the parents' side, investment into the national childcare scheme is needed. When childminders are able to register, parents will be able to avail of it. However, the national childcare scheme, while it is brilliant at bringing in more parents and providing subsidies for more of them than previously, it does have difficulties and glitches in the maintenance of the system, such as the generation of childcare identifier code keys, CHICKs, to see how much a parent will be eligible for.

Those kinds of things need to be sorted out because they will be an extra burden on childminders in engaging with the kind of practice they will need to. On the results of Fine Gael's policy, a parent talked last night about the NCS and how she is finding it particularly challenging because it keeps changing and she keeps having to go back into the system. Those glitches need to be worked out and there needs to be enough subsidy available to parents to make it worthwhile for them to sign up to avail of it. The subsidy also needs to be made worthwhile for childminders when they are able to avail of it in the context of the responsibility and interactions they need to have about signing in, engaging with CHICKs and supporting parents around that. Some of the glitches with the NCS need to be worked out.

I am not an advocate for tax incentives because it is presumed that people are paying tax and they are putting money in upfront etc. A direct subsidy would be best, whether it is through childminders or families.