Results 7,241-7,260 of 10,938 for speaker:Anne Rabbitte

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Public Services Card (30 Jun 2020)

Anne Rabbitte: 835. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when face-to-face meetings for the public services card will resume for those applying for SUSI but do not have a card and cannot organise the face-to-face meeting to receive one; if there is an alternative in place; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13129/20]

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (23 Jun 2020)

Anne Rabbitte: I thank the witnesses for their comprehensive presentation earlier on. As I am the last speaker of this session, most questions have been asked already so I am going to expand a little bit. One of my questions relates to fees. Ireland has some of the highest childcare fees in Europe, averaging around €185 per week for a single day care place. Is it fair for providers to return to...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (23 Jun 2020)

Anne Rabbitte: If I could just expand on that, what about the parents who might not need the service until next September? Would it be reasonable to have a conversation about them not having to pay the holding fee that would have been part of their pre-Covid contract while the service is getting up and running? I am talking about parents who would not need the service until September. Has that...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (23 Jun 2020)

Anne Rabbitte: My question concerns the expert advisory group that has been meeting once a week for the past number of weeks. Has a joint decision been made on how to support the parents who will not return to work until September? Is there a blanket recommendation for non-intake of fees for parents who will not need the service? I would like a "Yes" or "No" answer.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (23 Jun 2020)

Anne Rabbitte: I thank Ms Quinn. It is important that people listening to this debate understand the complexities that the providers operate under. Earlier today, like many other Deputies driving to Leinster House, I listened to the radio. The Federation of Early Childhood Providers was quoted as saying in a newspaper that the Department does not even understand its own package of supports which fall...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (23 Jun 2020)

Anne Rabbitte: That is why I asked about July and August. There could be a three-week period for opening up and perhaps we could then examine the issue. The others feel exactly the same way. Do I have time for one last question?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (23 Jun 2020)

Anne Rabbitte: I thank the Acting Chairman. My final question is about staff wages. Childcare staff, many of whom marched outside this building last February to highlight the poor rates of pay, have had the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and Revenue cover their wages during the pandemic, ensuring a minimum payment of €350. I would like a "Yes" or "No" answer to my question. Do the...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (23 Jun 2020)

Anne Rabbitte: I thank Ms Daly.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (23 Jun 2020)

Anne Rabbitte: I thank Ms Quinn.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (23 Jun 2020)

Anne Rabbitte: I thank Ms Daly. I thank the Acting Chairman for her flexibility.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed). (23 Jun 2020)

Anne Rabbitte: I thank the departmental officials for their presentations. When one contributes towards the end of a debate, it gives one the opportunity to see what questions were not asked. Those are the ones I will focus on rather than repeating points that were already raised. During an earlier session today, I referred to reports in today's newspapers of a statement by the Federation of Early...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed). (23 Jun 2020)

Anne Rabbitte: I thank Dr. Lynch. My follow-up point is that when the providers were here earlier, I referred to the July provision and the August provision but none of them seemed to be clear about what Dr. Lynch has said about them being in a position to make provision for children with additional needs. There was not a clear understanding of that. Is Dr. Lynch telling me now that come 29 June,...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed). (23 Jun 2020)

Anne Rabbitte: Yes, the July provision is what they call it in education.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed). (23 Jun 2020)

Anne Rabbitte: Is it the case that none of the funding package of €75 million that was allocated to the reopening of services in phase 3 of the roadmap includes funding for providers to provide AIM staff to support children with additional needs?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed). (23 Jun 2020)

Anne Rabbitte: I will finish to this point and move on to the next question then. This is not normal for the simple reason that these children are the ones who are most in need and they thrive on routine and early intervention. Part of it is that those parents are hugely frustrated and they need to get their children back into it. It is the childcare providers who are getting the brunt of this because...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed). (23 Jun 2020)

Anne Rabbitte: Does the Department believe that there is merit in the temporary wage support scheme being put on a permanent footing as a new model in the context of childcare? It would reduce the cost to parents and ensure staff earn a decent wage. I am sure this was Dr. Lynch's concern on 13 March. I remember ringing him on that particular day to ask what the difference was between what the shortfall...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed). (23 Jun 2020)

Anne Rabbitte: Everybody has touched on insurance. When did the Department know that the insurers would not cover front-line workers as part of phase 1 of our roadmap?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed). (23 Jun 2020)

Anne Rabbitte: I thank Ms McNally very much for being very honest in that. It is important to know the position. I am going to delve into something that I suppose many new Deputies would not be aware of, namely, how complex the whole childcare sector is. Deputy Funchion is here with me. We sat on the Joint Committee on Children and Youth Affairs in the previous Dáil. We know exactly how...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed). (23 Jun 2020)

Anne Rabbitte: That would be greatly appreciated. I am hearing - and Deputy Colm Burke said it earlier - that they are having problems logging on to the system. They feel they are being left out. We need to have joined-up thinking. If the Department could look at the model of including everybody, then we could go in the right direction. I thank the Acting Chairman for his leniency.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed). (23 Jun 2020)

Anne Rabbitte: I shall follow on from where Deputy Cullinane finished talking about the costing of the entire model. I ask the witnesses to correct me if I am wrong about the following. Did it cost €150 million all-inclusive for everything to be paid for the 11 weeks? If so, does that mean, if one multiplies it out, a fully funded public childcare model, without fees coming in, would cost the...