Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her response. I acknowledge her commitment to the area of childminding and child care. We are at a very interesting stage in regard to the early-years sector. The Minister is correct that childminding must be valued and regarded as an integral part of the strategy as we proceed. In the past, people have dismissed childminding out of hand as baby-sitting, but it is a lot more than that. It requires due recognition and regulation, which childminders are seeking.

Scotland has a registration system, not a notification system, for all early years services, including childminders. In Australia it is called home-based day care. It is about language also and the way we regulate that. No childminder in Scotland is exempt. Anybody who looks after one or more children under 16 for reward must register if they do so for more than two hours a day on six or more days of the year. People are required to do that because that is another loophole in that a person must voluntarily notify if they are looking after preschool children but if they are providing after-school care there is no onus on them to register or be Garda vetted. As we move forward on the protection of children that is something that must be examined. In terms of after-school policy, childminders are perfectly set to help us in looking for the places we so badly need. They are flexible and they have the transport often required to bring children to and from school, and they can facilitate looking after sibling groups.

The registration requirements in Scotland include personal references, police checks on the potential childminder and every other adult in the home, inspection of the home to ensure it is safe and suitable, and public liability insurance. There are a number of other initiatives that have worked very well in Scotland for a number of years.

Above all what we want to ensure for children, particularly young children in this critical stage of their development, is they are cared for in an appropriately supportive environment where they will be able to reach their milestones but also where the childminder feels they have the security and safety in terms of Garda vetting and access to the support and training they so badly want and in which they have eagerly engaged in recent years.

See this speech in context