Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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34. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to set out the measures being taken to ensure child care services have the capacity to cope with the expansion of the free preschool year scheme as announced in budget 2018. [43694/17]

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Perhaps the Minister can comment on how she has dealt with some of the anomalies and gaps that exist in the free preschool year scheme.

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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The Department of Children and Youth Affairs monitors the capacity of child care providers on an ongoing basis. In April 2017, more than 120,000 children participated in the early childhood care and education, ECCE, scheme at peak demand. While pressure on places was high in some areas, the system successfully accommodated all children for whom a place was sought. From September 2018, the structure and entry points of ECCE will change as a result of the additional investment that has been made available to fund a full two programme years. It is estimated that 114,000 children will register for ECCE for the full programme year at that point. As the system was able to accommodate 120,000 children in 2017, I am confident that there should be no problem accommodating 114,000 children in 2018. The one entry point will reduce the overall pressures on the system and make it simpler for parents to secure places on the ECCE programme for their children.

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs, through the city and county child care committees and Pobal, will continue to monitor issues of capacity and need. The Department is continuing to work with the Department of Education and Skills and the Central Statistics Office to identify the number of children who are eligible for the free preschool years. As it did on previous occasions, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs will make information available to each of the 30 city and county child care committees on the number of children in each electoral division who are eligible for the ECCE scheme. This will enable the committees to support providers and parents in their local areas to ensure sufficient capacity exists. If any future capacity issues are identified, the Department will consider any intervention necessary, such as the provision of capital funding. I am pleased that the funding I have received in budget 2018 means we can provide for a full second year of the ECCE scheme. I believe this will be to the considerable benefit of children and their families. I look forward to working with providers to ensure we have sufficient capacity to meet the needs of all families.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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The issue of capacity goes beyond mere places. We have previously discussed issues like capacity and the sustainability of the sector. Does the Minister believe the additional funding that is being provided will lead to improved pay? How does she intend to ensure the many lower-paid people working in this sector, who are overwhelmingly female, will see their pay increase on foot of this additional funding? I have previously raised the sustainability of community child care facilities, many of which might now begin to focus largely on the ECCE programme because of the more comprehensive nature of the funding available for it. What steps will the Minister take to ensure such providers will be able to provide other services?

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I think we are both very committed to the sustainability issue. As the Deputy is aware, €1 million was provided in budget 2017 to ensure the sustainability of certain services. The Department has worked very hard to assist those who have come forward to work with us in this regard. I have secured an additional €700,000 in budget 2018 to continue this work. This will continue to be an important aspect of our efforts to build capacity in these contexts. As the Deputy has rightly pointed out, additional quality measures to support the workforce are part of the building of capacity. I have a number of things to say in that regard. Specifically, I would like to answer the Deputy's question about additional moneys by saying I intend that some of the key measures I have identified for increased funding in budget 2018 will lead to service providers having more pay to offer to dedicated child care professionals.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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As we have sought to provide for early childhood education, not just over the past two years but also over a longer period, much of our strategy has involved the provision of subsidies to the private sector. While that makes sense in the context of this sector as it currently exists, do the Minister or the Department have any sense that we should be moving towards an early childhood care sector that is more substantially publicly provided?

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I would have been disappointed if the Deputy had not asked me that question. I know this is part of his vision. Speaking personally, I think much of that vision would make sense in some ways if it were possible. It would take a long period of time to translate or transfer the early child care and education sector into something that is a public service in the same way that our schools are public services, if that is what the Deputy is speaking about. A considerable rethink would be needed to move in that direction. I guess I am trying to tackle some of the reasons such a change might be good in the context of the system we currently have. I am providing public moneys to ensure the best possible early years education and care is delivered for our children and the best outcomes are achieved. In many cases, these services are provided by private providers. In other cases, they are provided by community providers. The ultimate aim is to ensure the best outcomes for our children.