Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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9. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of additional inspectors for child care services that have been appointed since the end of May this year; the areas of the country where these appointments have been made; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48033/13]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister will be aware that, last May, gaps in the number of inspectors were identified in various regions throughout the country. At that time the Minister gave a guarantee that the gaps would be filled. How many additional inspectors have been appointed since May? Will the Minister also indicate the regions of the country where these inspectors are now working?

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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During 2013, I have prioritised implementation of a preschool quality agenda. This represents a long overdue and long-awaited programme of measures to support, monitor and regulate the improvement of quality standards in preschool services in Ireland. For the first time I have ensured that preschool inspection reports are now online. There are 1,672 reports online, including the most recent 12 reports on inspections that have been conducted on preschool services in recent weeks.

A key element of the preschool quality agenda has been strengthening the national preschool inspection system. The HSE has statutory responsibility for preschool inspections and there are currently 38 whole-time equivalent preschool inspectors in post. I wish to advise the Deputy that the HSE is at an advanced stage of recruiting five additional inspectors to strengthen preschool inspection in Louth, Dublin south-east Wicklow, where two will be recruited, Cavan-Monaghan and Sligo-Leitrim-west Cavan. These are areas where gaps were identified.

On foot of budget 2014, I will also be allocating €4.5 million in Exchequer funding to support the implementation of the preschool quality agenda, with €500,000 of this funding to be allocated next year towards the cost of further increasing staffing levels to strengthen the preschool inspection system. This will be augmented by additional funding from the annual registration fees payable by preschool services, to be introduced as part of statutory registration. The number of additional inspectors to be recruited to the inspectorate as a result of this extra funding and the location of those posts will be decided upon by the new child and family agency in consultation with the Department.

The recruitment of additional inspectors is only one element of the reform of preschool inspections. Management reforms are under way and the new agency will be established next year. These include a programme of work to strengthen the preschool inspectorate to ensure greater consistency nationwide. As I have often stated, there has not been a national plan for the inspection of preschool services up to this point.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

A practical outcome of this work has been the introduction of standard operating procedures earlier this year, which should address the issue of inconsistencies and provide clarity and transparency to early years services. The comprehensive preschool quality agenda, which my Department is progressing, will also address other key preschool inspection reforms, including publishing inspection reports online, strengthening the national inspection system, introducing new protocols on regulatory compliance and enforcement, increasing and widening the sanctions that can be taken for non-compliance, introducing a registration system for all preschool services and implementing new national quality standards.

The legislative provisions to underpin these reforms are contained in the Child and Family Agency Establishment Bill 2013. 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. Under the proposed new system, all preschool services will have to be registered in order to operate. Inspectors will be empowered to specify improvement conditions that a service must comply with and the threat of removal of registration will be available. Currently, 1,679 preschool inspection reports are published online.

The new national quality standards for preschool services will be launched shortly. These 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 regulations will be measured. I am confident that these comprehensive reforms will provide for the operation by the child and family agency of a more consistent and robust preschool inspection regime.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the fact that the recruitment of five additional inspectors is at an advanced stage, albeit six months after gaps were identified. Will the Minister confirm that there will be no gap in any location after the five additional inspectors have been hired? She stated the recruitment process is at an advanced stage. Will the inspectors take up their positions this year or early next year?

Regarding the funding allocation of €500,000 for additional inspectors next year, what eligibility criteria will be used to determine to which regions they will be allocated?

Will I have time to contribute again?

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I will revert to the Deputy.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Some 43 inspectors should be in place by the end of the year. The Louth recruitment is happening this week. The others are at an advanced stage. I expect that those four inspectors will be in place in the coming weeks.

Regarding the funding I have received for the extra ten inspectors next year, the HSE will consider the areas of greatest need. For example, two of the inspectors being recruited now will be allocated to the Dublin area. Some parts of the country have more early years services than others. The allocation of the ten extra posts will be based on levels of need in various counties. In the UK, for example, inspections are carried out approximately every two years. In Ireland, the average is 18 months. However, we want to ensure that this is the case in every area. Where there are many early years school services, we will clearly need more inspectors. If a concern about a particular service arises, we want to ensure that inspectors are in a position to visit it at short notice. Allocations will be based on levels of need in various counties. For the first time, a national manager is in charge of this area. I expect that the team will be in a position to make those decisions.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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Given that we are taking on new inspectors and looking at the qualifications of service providers, would the Minister consider that it is an appropriate time to examine the qualifications of those carrying out the inspections?

Will the Minister take on board the recommendations from her expert advisory group on early years, the workforce development plan and an OECD report on child care concerning inspectors' qualifications?

The Minister said the new registration fee will help to fund additional inspections. Will she confirm whether this new fee is an additional one for child care providers or will it replace the existing fee for registered child care providers?

The Minister said she hopes that preschool and early childhood settings will be inspected every 18 months. We are now bringing forward the necessary legislation on Committee Stage. Would it not be prudent and wise to insert in that legislation a provision to inspect such establishments every 18 months at a minimum, if the Minister so desires? At the moment, the legislation refers to inspections happening "periodically", which could lead to a longer timeframe for inspections.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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There is a nominal fee at present. This is a registration fee in accordance with the legislation we are debating concerning the child and family agency. That will be a new fee, although the amount has yet to be agreed. Account will be taken of the varying types of services, including private and community ones. The details of that are being worked out and I will liaise with the Deputy. I am sure it will come up for discussion on Committee Stage of the legislation next week.

We are fortunate that so many people have undertaken further qualifications in early year services. There is a lot of expertise but, to date, there has not been a career path for such people. The new mentoring scheme, which was announced in the budget, will begin to be implemented next year and will give scope for career advancement.

The question of inspections should be examined and we could consider people with a wider range of expertise in that regard. It is clear we are at a transition point with the new agency, so we need to allow that transition to go ahead. The issue the Deputy has raised is an important one, in that we can bring in people with experience of the child care sector.

Environmental health officers and public health nurses are working very well, given the challenges they are facing in the sector. That is an issue that can be discussed in due course.