Ms Marian Quinn:

I can respond to this question and Senator McGreehan's question on qualifications. It is definitely something being looked at under the workforce development plan and it is about bringing in qualifications. There is a growing recognition of the type of work happening in school-age childcare services and it is about supporting children in educational, social, emotional and cultural disadvantage, etc. A complex skill set is required and this should be phased in over time. Members have just heard about the crisis in the early years sector and by introducing qualifications to the school-age childcare sector, it could bring a crisis if it is not phased in appropriately. Over time we will be looking at qualification requirements comparable with what is in early years, given the complexity of the work done there.

Deputy Cairns asked about where we would situate and what needs to happen now. We must redefine what is school-age childcare. Under legislation, it is very much about support for parents when they are working. It does not have children at its core so we must create a new vision for school-age childcare that has children at its core. It will clearly involve supporting families in engaging in the workforce as well but that cannot be the main thrust. We must have children's rights at its core.

There was mention of the supports required for school-age childcare with respect to the national childcare scheme. Children in crisis may be sponsored and can get their needs met. Children who have a parent or parents working may also get their needs met with enhanced hours during term time. However, children whose parent or parents are not working - for whatever multitude of reasons - do not get support. I know part of the reason for this is us wanting to break the cycle of poverty or intergenerational poverty but we need a multipronged approach. One of those prongs can involve supporting the parent or parents in whatever they need to be able to engage in training, education or work but we must also consider what a child in the here and now needs. A child has one childhood and this is about early intervention and prevention. We could spend much more later on and the child will have lost the potential for a rich childhood he or she should and could have. The process needs to change now.

There are community services representatives here who do significant work but this is about children all over the country. As my colleague, Mr. Kenny, alluded to, the targeted schemes were opened to private providers. The national childcare scheme is also open to private providers. There are pockets around the country where children may not be in crisis but they are in need. We must move from the crisis model, where we only really support families when they are in crisis.

There is an action plan for school-age childcare and there is much planned for that type of childcare. Unfortunately, very often this gets lumped in with early years but these are two very different stages. We must stop doing that. In the meantime, while there is consideration of a new model for school-age childcare and whether it has a DEIS-type model or not, there will be a few years of development so we must now open to any child who could have availed of supports under the targeted schemes. There are siblings on those legacy targeted schemes but a younger child cannot access them under the national childcare scheme. That must be stopped. We should look at this immediately and while we are working on the best model for children all over. We must ensure any service providing for the needs of children does not close. They must be supported wherever they are as they are vital for early intervention and prevention.

The Department deals with both children and youth. If we are talking about play, youth work and early years skill, the process becomes very complex in terms of who can work in the sector. It would be a multidisciplinary approach. I thank members for listening.