Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I warmly welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, to the House and thank her for taking the time to be here today. I had hoped the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth would have been here but I understand there are other commitments. I acknowledge efforts he made in response to matters we raised with him last year. I want to be fair to him about those efforts with the national childcare scheme and in particular the eligibility for after-school hours.

Today's question relates to the alarming loss of early childhood care and education, ECCE, places this September. In one area in Stoneybatter, an urban village in Dublin 7, there will be a loss of 55 ECCE places this September. This is across two services, the Donard/Glen community play group and Creative Kids & Co. It is an enormous loss to any community, particularly when we know there is massive demand for ECCE places right across the country and in Dublin at this point.

Both closures relate to changes happening within the primary schools in which they are located, and these are good changes. That is to be welcomed. It is important to say we accept that those who run preschools located in primary schools know there is uncertainty hanging over them every year.The licence is renewed every September on a ten-month basis. Nonetheless there are very serious questions now about forward planning and co-ordination between the Department of Education and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when changes are made with regard to school buildings.

To be frank, the Department of Education has made decisions on ASD units without really looking at what is happening within those school buildings. We have to ask if the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is going to stand by and see the loss of 55 ECCE places within one very small area of Dublin. I have no doubt that is replicated right across the country. Creative Kids & Co. was informed at the start of the year that it would potentially not have its licence renewed. It started the search process then. The person who runs that service runs two others so she knows what she is doing. She cannot find anywhere for love nor money in terms of trying to locate her ECCE service in another part of Dublin 7. Cost does not even come into it. It is about finding an appropriate place. Because we rightfully have these services so highly regulated, it makes it all the harder to find an appropriate location. There is an onus and responsibility on the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to ensure that appropriate locations are made available.

The Donard community play group was told that its licence would end in December 2022 and it would be extended on a monthly rolling basis. Because of changes by the Department of Education the group was told only last week that it will have nowhere as of this September. The heartbreaking thing about this is that there are a number of kids in both services who have additional needs. The irony for these children, who were due to go into their second year of ECCE, is that when they get to primary school in September 2023 they will have fantastic services in place but they will have nothing in the 12 months between September 2022 and September 2023. Weeks and months matter in children's lives, particularly those children who have additional needs. There are serious questions here for the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth about what it is going to do to put in place secure, sustainable locations for ECCE schemes that effectively have to close overnight.