Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the Seanad. I am always delighted when she comes in to respond to commencement matters. She dealt with two of my issues previously and both have been solved. I have said this to the Minister of State privately but I want to put it on the record of the House today. I raised the case previously of a woman who is an amputee but who did not have a medical card. Following the Minister of State's intervention, she ended up getting a medical card, she now has a new leg and her life has been transformed. I want to thank the Minister of State for that, which leads me on to today's commencement matter. I have great hope that the Minister of State can reassure childminders in Tipperary and across the country. Everything I am about to say comes from a place of worry and fear about what might happen next September.

Many childminders around the country are very worried about the changes due to be implemented next year. We have a myriad of different childcare settings in which parents entrust their children's care. While they all need to be held to a standard, it is important that any such standard is specific to the setting. Childminders play a key role in Ireland and if Tusla registration leads to a mass exodus from the sector, a lot of families will be in very difficult situations. Tusla currently holds childminders to the same standard as childcare facilities but this is in no way practical. Childcare facilities are businesses in buildings that have been built and adapted for the purpose of providing childcare whereas childminders working out of their own homes need to be dealt with on the understanding that their workplace is a home.

Staff in my office have spoken extensively with a much sought after childminder who is highly respected within the community in Tipperary. When she started working for herself, she registered with Tusla and went through all of the checks. She quickly learned that Tusla registration came with far more obstacles than she ever imagined. She deregistered and is now running a thriving business. Her story is not unique. Many childminders in Tipperary have similar stories and I have had countless messages from childminders about their experiences. I speak to parents and childminders on a weekly basis in Tipperary who are really nervous about what the upcoming changes will mean. The paperwork associated with childcare facilities is extensive and is far too much for an individual childminder to take on. Additionally, the ratio limits should be completely different in this type of setting. Again, we are dealing with a family home as opposed to a model setting.

Does the Department plan to implement alternative arrangements for childminders and to differentiate them from childcare facilities? Has there been ongoing engagement with unregistered childminders to find ways to keep them in the sector when changes are implemented?I have had so many contacts from childminders right across Tipperary who are very worried. I could read out 20 messages that I got from them but I will read one in particular that underlines their worries and fears. It is a childminder in Tipperary who sent me an email and message. She said:

I'm also fearful of them changing ratios or including our own children in the current ratios ... They did this with both early years & then when the SAC rules came in. If they reduce ratios they reduce our income which could mean closure for a lot of childminders in Tipperary.

I am biased in this in some way because I am affected, like most people who have young children. With regard to how many childminders we have in Tipperary and across the country, we need to make sure that we can keep these people, hold their positions, their companies and the work they do as best we can. All we are hoping for is that when it comes to an agreement with the Department, it is recognised and taken into account that most childminders are working from their own homes. It is not one of these facilities that have been built with a childcare facility image in place, where everything is done with that in place. This is really important because as the Minister of State knows, this affects families. It particularly affects women at work, and their ability to work. I know countless people in Tipperary who, if these childminders decide next week or next year that it is just not viable for them because of the changes we have made in government, then we are going to have hundreds of mothers and fathers in Tipperary who have to make alternative arrangements or have to give up work.