Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this important issue and offering me the opportunity on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and the Department to respond to her. To participate in the national childcare scheme, there must be a funding agreement in force between the Department of children and the early learning and childcare provider. The policy guidelines set out the rules governing the scheme, reflecting both the primary and secondary legislation. These guidelines do not stipulate how a provider should manage their admission policies or the termination of a child’s place. This is because early learning and childcare providers are private entities and are currently free to set their own admissions policies, which are agreed with or offered to a parent through a private contract that exists between the two parties. Neither the Minister nor his Department intervenes in these private issues. Early learning and childcare services are regulated by Tusla, the independent statutory regulator, under the Child Care Act 1991. Under existing regulations for preschool services and school-age services, from 2016 and 2018 respectively, each provider is required to have a complaints policy in place, outlining how concerns or complaints will be managed. If parents have concerns about their early learning and childcare service, they can lodge a complaint through the service’s complaints policy and procedures. If there are concerns regarding the operation of a service or the welfare and safety of children who attend, these concerns can be reported to the Tusla early years inspectorate. Contact details of the inspectorate are available on its website, or alternatively, I can provide the Senator with them afterwards.

There is no current requirement under the regulations for services to have an admissions policy. Last May however, the Minister, Deputy O’Gorman, published Equal Start, a major new model of Government-funded supports to ensure children experiencing disadvantage can access and meaningfully participate in early learning and childcare. Under Equal Start, there is a commitment to provide guidance on admissions policies, and explore the possible introduction of regulatory requirements for early learning and childcare services to have an inclusive admissions policy. Equal Start delivers on a key commitment in the first five strategy and it is envisaged that full implementation of all 17 Equal Start actions, including the actions on admissions policies, will happen within the lifetime of this strategy by 2028.

I will continue speaking from the final script so it is in the round, if that is okay. As referred to in the opening statement, Equal Start commits to providing guidance on admissions policies and exploring the possible introduction of regulatory requirements for early learning and childcare services to have an inclusive admissions policy. Moreover, under Equal Start, consideration will be given to extending to early learning and childcare services the duties arising under section 42 of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014. Under section 42, public bodies as defined in that Act which can, subject to regulations, include organisations either wholly or partly funded out of public moneys, have a duty in the performance of their functions to eliminate discrimination, to promote equality of opportunity and to protect the human rights of its staff and the persons to whom they provide services.

Finally, an independent evaluation of the national childcare scheme will be commissioned this year. The issues raised by the Senator in her opening contribution can be further considered in the context of that evaluation. I have finished my scripts. It is unfortunate to hear the Senator raising on the floor of the Seanad today an example of where she says "sharp practice" is occurring. It brings into disrepute so many of the 4,200 really good childcare providers where sharp practice is not happening. The sharp practice in this instance arises when you are using the baby room but you are not taking on an ECCE space, and this leads to your exit very quickly after you came in. That sharp practice is not how mainstay providers operate, as the Senator and I know. It is unfortunate that she has had to raise such an incident today.