Dr. Anne-Marie Brooks:

I might come in on the questions around consultation and the national childcare scheme. In relation to work to develop and launch the national action plan, there was engagement with 850 childminders. Among other stakeholders and representatives, there was engagement with 850 childminders through a range of activities, including focus groups, surveys, calls for submissions and discussion days. We have engaged with a considerable number of those involved heretofore. As set out in the plan, we have a strong commitment to senior level engagement and consultation. As mentioned, a steering group is soon to be established. The first meeting of that group will take place next week. The group will include childminding representation. There will also be four advisory groups established under the steering group structure to work on a range of activities. One of the advisory groups will look specifically at communication and consultation and assist with the development of an intensive communications and consultation strategy.

In the process of us moving forward to convene the steering group and to identify childminders to contribute to that group and also to identify childminders who are in a position to contribute to the advisory groups and other consultation activities that will happen over the course of phase 1 and beyond in the course of implementing the plan we currently have an expression of interest active inviting childminders to register with us to be involved in the various structures that are being established and to signal their interest in continued engagement through focus group activities or other mechanisms that will be set up over the course of the action plan. We have already received over 50 expressions of interest from childminders nationally.

On the national childcare scheme, the national action plan sets out an initial costings for phases 1, 2 and 3 of the implementation of the plan. Clearly, these are initial costings and in phase 1 we will sit down to re-examine those costs in light of further analysis and data collection. There are initial costs of extending the national childcare scheme to childminders and an upper and lower cost based on various assumptions of the number of childminders who will be subject to regulation. The cost ranges from €14 million to €33 million, depending on the numbers of childminders who will be regulated and the number of children accessing supports. That cost is also based on there being no change in the level of uptake of the national childcare scheme and no increased demand or increased intensity of use. The current estimate is €14 million to €33 million. Again, that is very much dependent on the number of childminders who are regulated in the initial implementation.