Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As I have outlined in previous replies, my Department and I, in conjunction with the HSE and other stakeholders, are progressing a preschool quality agenda involving a range of actions in eight key areas aimed at improving quality within early years services and enhancing the regulatory regime. The actions include improving the qualifications for all staff in preschool services to a minimum standard at FETAC level 5; improving the quality and curricular supports for preschool services when implementing the Síolta framework and Aistear curriculum, which they need to do; implementing the new national preschool standards; introducing a registration system for all preschool services; taking steps to make the inspection system more consistent and robust; publishing inspection reports online; ensuring appropriate action is taken when we find non-compliance such as we saw on the "Prime Time" programme; and increasing and widening sanctions for non-compliance.

Since July, 914 preschool inspection reports have been published on the Pobal website. I thank everybody who was involved in publishing those reports. There have been many insurance and inter-agency issues to be sorted. I also thank Early Childhood Ireland, whose representatives had some concerns but who recently said they recognise the value of those inspection reports being online, as do the public and families.

In July, the Government approved the heads of new legislation to amend the Child Care Act 1991. This legislation will increase the penalty for an offence under the Act to a maximum class A fine. More significantly, this legislation will provide a statutory basis for registration of preschool services and will introduce a range of new enforcement powers for inspectors at pre-prosecution level, and the availability of this pre-prosecution level is very important. Under the proposed new system, all preschool services will have to be registered to operate. Inspectors will be empowered to specify improvement conditions with which a service must comply, and the threat of removal of registration will be available to them.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

This system will, for the first time, provide for timely and effective regulation and enforcement of standards in preschool services, backed up by statutory registration. This legislation is being finalised in conjunction with the Parliamentary Counsel and it is my intention to bring it before the Oireachtas during the current term.

In addition, my Department, in conjunction with the preschool inspectorate, is working to develop new protocols on regulatory compliance to provide greater clarity and consistency of approach in the way inspection reports deal with findings of serious non-compliance as opposed to minor breaches and full compliance. New national quality standards for preschool services will be launched before the end of the year. These standards will complement the existing preschool regulations, replacing previous explanatory notes, and will set out the quality outcomes and supporting criteria against which inspection under the preschool regulations will be measured. Discussions are continuing in the context of budget 2014 on additional resources for the inspection system.

I have decided to introduce new qualification requirements for child care services starting in September 2014. The current minimum requirement of level 5 for preschool leaders delivering the preschool year will be increased to level 6. In addition, all preschool assistants and all other staff caring for children in a new preschool service will be subject to a minimum requirement of level 5. These requirements will be effective from September 2014 for new services and from September 2015 for existing services. My Department is examining measures to support training for child care staff in line with the increased qualification requirements.

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