Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to hear that the Minister has put the request in. It is a matter of urgency because time is going very quickly and a lot of planning would need to happen before we can make sure we have the supports for those children in place when they need them.

On the issue of insurance, I echo the concerns and frustration of other Deputies and of parents and front-line workers who will not have access now to the outreach childcare scheme that had been mooted two weeks ago. It would appear that insurance is, or at the time was, one of the main issues raised as a barrier to that scheme functioning. The Minister says she has spoken to Allianz and that it has committed that it will provide cover to in situchildcare providers as long as the public health guidance is adhered to. Why was there an issue with the outreach scheme? That too was in adherence with the public health advice. If Allianz considers that there was an issue in adhering to that and a risk associated with people adhering to that advice when it was happening in people's homes, why now has there been a shift such that Allianz will now consider the public health advice as the key determinant in whether or not there is a risk associated with providing childcare?

One aspect of this has been disappointing because there was considerable expectation about the outreach childcare provision. I wonder whether the fact that the State did not take the option to indemnify was really the nail in the coffin for that programme. I know the Minister raised the matter with the Department. What were the main challenges raised by officials when the Minister spoke to them about it?

The other main barrier to the outreach scheme seems to be possible virus transmission. Obviously, the health and safety of children and childcare workers needs to be paramount in the establishment of any of these schemes. The Minister referred today to a pod approach. Is that based on advice put forward by the National Public Health Emergency Team? Will the Minister publish the advice? It is important to have some transparency and clarity for childcare providers and parents in the context of what that advice will mean for them.

Yesterday in the Dáil concern was expressed about the amount of time people were spending in the Chamber. The expectation is now that we can only spend two hours in this huge space when we are all socially distanced from one another. How are we going to move to a position where children will be in the company of one adult childminder, even in a pod situation? How can they be in that space for longer than two hours at a time? Has that issue been considered?

What are the testing arrangements? Has consideration been given to the testing arrangements that need to be in place for the sector? I specifically have in mind arrangements to support the new childcare measures that the Minister has spoken of. That would give additional confidence to workers and parents.

The physical health of children and childcare workers must be one of the fundamental blocks in setting up any new childcare scheme. However, one thing becoming apparent as we move though this crisis is how, for children in particular, emotional health and well-being needs are as important as physical health considerations. Many of us have seen images online of children in playgrounds standing in little square boxes marked out on the ground. They are kept at a distance from all their friends. As a parent, I find those images rather upsetting. There has also been discussion in the media recently about how, in any childcare service that we implement, children may not be allowed to bring comfort toys such as blankets and dodies to the crèche or preschool. These things are important to children and give them a sense of attachment to home. The Minister mentioned that children would be able to use the same toys on a daily basis when they are in childcare settings. Does that imply they will be unable to bring their dodie, blanket or favourite teddy bear into the crèche with them?

We need to focus not only on the physical health measures but also the potential for these to impact adversely on the developmental health of children in future. I have serious concerns about this. We need to ensure that we take emotional well-being and the developmental needs of children into consideration. The question is how we get the balance right between achieving physical safety and emotional safety. The key to getting the balance right is ensuring that we have the correct expertise feeding in to the advisory body. Currently, however, there is no expert on child development or child psychology on NPHET or its subgroups. What measures has the Minister taken to ensure that the emotional well-being of children has been taken into account in the NPHET decision-making processes? Is there an opportunity to include a child psychologist on the team? The list of people at the moment includes immunologists and general practitioners. It is all very much at the medical end of things. We need someone in place who will speak up for the mental health of children as we move forward.

There have been renewed reports in the media of shops that are banning children from entering, despite all the advice. This sends out such a negative connotation to children and makes it really difficult for one-parent families to do simple things like shopping. Will the Minister make a statement and give clear guidance to retailers on that?

It is unfortunate that we have got to a place where those bans have been put in place and we need retailers to revise them.

Will the Minister make public the Crowe Horwath report on the cost of providing childcare, which was meant to be released late last year? It would be good to have that released as soon as possible.

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