Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for coming into the House to deal with this matter. I am asking her to address the recent findings made by the ESRI that disadvantaged parents were twice as likely to have unmet childcare needs as those in better off groups. This is on the back of a report that was issued in the past few days. The document examines data collected by the CSO for 5,219 households and 13,186 individuals. The analysis made in the paper uses weights designed by the CSO in order to ensure the sample is representative of the population. The survey looked at whether households with persons in need of care, defined as children under the age of 12 years and people who were older or had a disability which required the provision of care for them, had an unmet need in making these care arrangements, that is, whether they needed more care than they were in receipt of.

The survey found that 24.5% of lone parent households had unmet needs. I found this shocking. Some 35% of households experiencing deprivation also had an unmet childcare need. Between about 70% and 90% of people with unmet needs report the reason as an inability to afford formal childcare services. Again, lone parents emerge as the group facing the worst situation, with 91% reporting that they cannot afford the required formal childcare service. When we talk about lone parents, sometimes people think we are talking about those who are completely in the social welfare system, but that is not the case. Many lone parents go out to work and are struggling to meet their childcare needs. We have had numerous reports from the ESRI and elsewhere and all know that the cost of childcare is crippling. It is incredibly difficult for single parents who are trying to rear a family and cannot afford to pay for childcare.

The affordable childcare scheme was announced by the Minister in 2016 and we had hoped it would be up and running by 2017. However, owing to ICT requirements, it is not yet ready. What comfort can we give to parents who find themselves between the cracks? Children do not have access to childcare services. While a child might have access to the ECCE programme, his or her parents are not able to provide full-time childcare because they cannot afford it and so cannot afford to return to work. The vicious circle begins and parents are not able to get out of it. Will the Minister explain to the lone parents watching these proceedings how they will be able to access the system? How will it benefit them? I am aware that it is income based, but the lone parents at the lower end of the threshold are finding it very difficult. One of the main reasons is the lack of affordable childcare services.

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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Providing a childcare infrastructure that enables accessible, affordable, quality childcare for all has been a cornerstone of my work as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs since 2016. The research report is from that year. The years I have been in office as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs have seen an unprecedented increase in investment in key early learning and care, ELC, and school age childcare, SAC, areas, with annual investment rising to €574 million, a 117% increase since 2015. The increases have allowed us to introduce measures designed to be a major step towards accessible, affordable and quality ELC and SAC after decades of under-investment by successive Governments.

The measures I have introduced include increases of up to 50% in targeted subsidies since 2016 and the introduction of a universal childcare subvention payment of up to €1,040 per annum for the care of children aged from six months to the first eligible point of entry of the early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme. We have also since the report was carried out doubled the free pre-school scheme ECCE to enable parents access to two years instead of one. These changes are waypoints towards our goal of delivering genuine affordable, accessible, quality ELC and SAC. The launch of the new affordable childcare scheme this coming October will alter the landscape of childcare in Ireland. It will provide financial support for parents, establish a sustainable platform for investment in the childcare sector for decades to come and, crucially, allow us to continue to invest in giving children the best start in life.

In December I signed regulations which will provide, for the first time, for the registration of school-age childcare services with Tusla. The regulations came into force yesterday, 18 February. This means that parents of school-age children will be eligible to apply for subsidies under the affordable childcare scheme from the outset. Under measures included in budget 2019, I was able to further enhance the affordable childcare scheme by raising the upper and lower thresholds for income-related subsidies, meaning that maximum subsidy rates will now be paid to all families with a net annual income of up to €26,000, up from €22,700. The increases will ensure an even greater number of families will benefit from the highest subsidy rates available under the scheme once it is launched.

It is also important to note, particularly in the context of our discussion, that the Childcare Support Act 2018, the legislative basis for the new scheme, specifies five statutory bodies which may make agreements on referral procedures for free or additional childcare for children with the greatest level of need. These are known as sponsor arrangements. I also highlight that First 5, the Government’s ten-year strategy for babies, young children and their families, was launched in November 2018. It is a fundamental concept which provides for a progressive universalism and seeks to strengthen the supports and services available for all babies, young children and families and put in place additional measures for those with additional needs.

I am committed to continuing to radically reform childcare services for the benefit of children, families, women, our society and economy. I believe that when the ESRI or any other research body does a similar piece of work utilising SILC CSO data from 2017, 2018 or 2019, conclusions on the childcare needs of disadvantaged parents will have changed significantly for the better.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I hope so, too. I welcome all of the good work the Minister has done, but I still have concerns about lone parents and families with one income. That is why I have raised this question which I know the Minister understands. For a two-income family childcare costs are a little less of a burden. As the Minister gets ready for next year's budget, is she making any provision for the single income family? I am thinking of the trainee nurse or beautician with a child who needs access to care. If these persons cannot afford it, or if they are at a certain stage of their career progression or in education, will there be a mechanism under which we can support and encourage them into the workforce? Their income might be below a particular threshold, but they will still need to be able to access full-time childcare. Consideration must be given to them. I would love to hear the Minister's response in that regard.

The Minister is planning to launch a campaign which will involve myGov.ie. We have to make people aware of why they have to sign up to the website and the need to use it and tell them that it will prohibit them if they are not registered on time. There are so many families who are not registered on it. How will the Minister's Department communicate this message to families to encourage them to sign up? It is important that they follow the process and sign up in advance. If we wait until next September to do it, the system will crash.

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I agree with the Deputy on all of the questions and issues she has raised. Single parent families were a key group I had in mind when I decided to move towards the affordable childcare scheme. Even though the full scheme is not ready to be launched and the streamlining of all of the different targeted subsidies is not yet complete, from the beginning of my ministry and the first budget I negotiated I have received additional targeted subsidies especially to enable those families with the least to get the most to meet their childcare needs. This is in addition to the universal payments available if single parents have an early born child. From the very beginning much of the political approach I have taken has been to design the affordable childcare scheme which simply seeks to bring together the various schemes already available in order that they will be easier to administer. Prior to that happening, we have increased significantly the targeted subsidies, especially for those families with the least income. They receive the most. When research is carried out in the future on the position in the years 2017, 2018 and 2019, I believe we will see a different picture.

The Deputy asked whether there could be something in particular provided to target one-parent families. In the context of the overall plan and the overall family and household income thresholds, the scheme is probably sufficient; those who have the least get the most. It is also true that, with the First 5 strategy, we are looking to develop a model that will offer a more DEIS-type approach to early learning and care centres in areas where one-parent families are seeking to access childcare and particularly in need of it.

The Deputy's questions on the information campaign are excellent. We are working on it and hope to initiate it in the next month.

All those aspects, especially those relating to the MyGovID portal, are absolutely crucial for people to be aware of, especially where lone-parent families are seeking to access the subsidies.