Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is very welcome. I commend my colleague Senator Currie on her Private Members' motion and the work she has done over the past four years, especially in the area of childcare, in providing a report that sets out a new way and new model for childcare. It is important to acknowledge the significant investment by the Government in childcare to benefit every single family in the country. I am a father of three young kids. As a parent and a family, we receive support from the State. That is important to note, as is the further reduction in fees due to kick in for the next school year come September.

It is also important to acknowledge that we receive significant representations, particularly from those smaller providers that are struggling - some have gone out of business - with the model of funding. It seems to be slightly skewed in favour of larger scale providers being able to survive. I ask for that to be looked at and taken into account. We cannot afford to see any more smaller providers pulling out of childcare. I have seen it in the local area where I live. Only in the past month to six weeks, a childcare provider who was looking after kids after school has retired. There is no person taking over that service and we now have a situation where there is no option for parents in that area. I have engaged and spoken with a number of parents with regard to setting up an after-school facility, which is the way forward.

I was involved in starting such a facility in my community eight or nine years ago. We identified a need in the community where I live in Ballinalee. We met with the local hall committee, which I happened to be on. We have leased the hall from the local hall committee. We are located beside the school. We now have Little Learners, which is an after-school provider set up for the past eight years that provides a breakfast club and after-school care for up to 70 children five days a week. It also provides summer camps throughout the programme for kids, therefore, providing parents with that secure childcare through the summer months. I have seen and worked with various groups over the past 12 or 18 months. Many of them have approached us looking to replicate that model to provide an after-school facility in their local communities.

One of the proposals in the motion is about colocating childcare facilities on proposed primary and post-primary schools as part of their campuses. That is the way forward. Within the build for any large school that is being built, there should be a purpose-built after-school facility, or a facility within the school to drive it. There is no need to build a brand-new childcare facility to accommodate kids. That school facility is closed from 3 p.m. and throughout the summer months. We need to look at locating or colocating community childcare facilities within buildings that are owned by the State and the taxpayer. Where there are no such buildings, then build new facilities but where there are, it makes sense to do that. I ask for that to be prioritised. As I said, I am working with probably three to four groups currently. That is what they are doing. They will have the after-school facility within the school. That is the way forward. We need not look for significant capital investment for a new build but still be able to provide that after-school facility for kids.

Senator McGahon mentioned AIMS, which comes under the Minister's Department. Children are in a childcare facility for the ECCE year at three and four years of age and the Department is funding an AIMS support worker for a child with needs. There needs to be more co-ordination between education and disabilities. If a child needs support in the ECCE year, he or she should automatically need support in school. We have a situation where by the end of this year, we will have 20,000 kids on a waiting list for an assessment of needs to get into a special class in a school, when they have already been assessed as getting that AIMS support worker within ECCE. Why do we need to replicate that? All we are doing is creating longer lists.

I chaired the Joint Committee on Autism. We made a significant number of recommendations, 109 in total, to try to get supports for kids at a younger age. There is a massive opportunity in the ECCE system, which is under the Department, to get that support in for children at three and four years of age. Early intervention is key. We have support workers who we are funding. They are working with kids. They should be given the tools and knowledge to do extra occupational therapy, or speech and language therapy, for children at three and four years of age.There are a significant number of apps out there now and there is IT support that could be used to allow those access and inclusion model, AIMs, workers to work with the kids at that younger age and give them that support. My apologies for straying slightly off the topic but I felt it was important to say this. There is a massive opportunity where we have AIMs workers who are working with the kids to get that earlier intervention with kids. It will only benefit those kids in the long run. I fully support the motion and I compliment my colleague on the work she has done on this.