Seanad debates

Thursday, 13 July 2017

Commencement Matters

Early Childhood Care and Education Funding

10:30 am

Photo of Denis O'DonovanDenis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Catherine Byrne.

Photo of Catherine ByrneCatherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I apologise, but I will be talking all four Commencement matters.

Photo of Denis O'DonovanDenis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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In view of the fact that we are approaching the laethanta saoire, Members might be indulgent of the Minister of State today.

Photo of Jennifer Murnane O'ConnorJennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail)
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I am, however, a little disappointed, although I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter.

The capitalisation for the ECCE scheme needs to be significantly increased. The higher grant is €75 per week per child, but it still does not cover the cost of providing the service. Many services are facing closure as a result of the lack of funding. Parents have to send their child for three hours per day which is covered by the scheme. I understand that point, but the rate of inflation, together with the significant increase in rates, are a burden. All businesses pay rates and have overheads such as ESB and other bills. As such, this is becoming a major issue for providers. Providers are subsidising the scheme because of the poor pay rates and working conditions. Recently the Minister stated the budget for the affordable child care scheme this year was €466 million, yet there is non-contract time, for which the provider is not paid. However, last week for the first time since the scheme was introduced a small contribution was made. The provider has to download, print, process the paperwork for the scheme on behalf of the Department. Providers are doing the Department's work, but they are also helping parents, for which they receive no funding. This adds another cost for providers. This is a serious issue which needs to be addressed.

The biggest issue is that the period of payment for the provider is for 38 weeks, The provider is not paid at Halloween, Christmas, during mid-term breaks and the Easter and summer holiday periods, which means that they must go to the Labour Exchange and sign on for the dole. Because of this, they cannot get a mortgage. A number of people who work in this area are coming to me because they are not eligible for a mortgage because they are lucky to be coming out on average with €10 to €10.50 an hour. That is not right. If a child is booked in for five days and, for some reason, is missing, let me give as an example a child who misses four Fridays in a row through no fault of his or her own or that of his or her parents. The money is taken back from the provider who is at the loss of the money for the days missed. Who is to blame when a child is not present? The answer is nobody There is a need for balance, but it is not even looked at and the provider is punished where, through no fault of the service, a child is sick and the parent cannot him or her to the provider. These are issues that need to be addressed.

The information being given to providers and parents on the affordable child care scheme is constantly being changed, which is not good enough. As recently as yesterday morning, there was was another change announced. There is a major issue with the PIP programme which provides the implementation platform in registering the names of the children and inputting their details, based on which the provider receives payment . More often than not, the system crashes. It crashes constantly.It does not calculate the payments correctly and then one has to follow up with the Department to try to sort it out. These are the main issues, which need to be addressed. I was disappointed that a review was never carried out before this new scheme was announced. That is unacceptable. We kept getting announcement after announcement, but no review. I believe this programme's implementation platform, PIP, is now being looked at to try to sort out the payments, but the Minister says it could take up to 12 months. When we have that kind of money, it is unacceptable that is not happening.

On the non-contract hours and paperwork that was increased, when the Minister originally announced this, it was going through the parents. The parents were going to get all the paperwork and then they could decide what providers to go to. It has gone back to the provider again, so now the provider is doing the paperwork. It was announced on the website during the week that 173,000 pages were visited by people looking at the website. Of these, two thirds of the queries came from Dublin.

Photo of Paul CoghlanPaul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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The Senator has gone well over time.

Photo of Jennifer Murnane O'ConnorJennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail)
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It is unacceptable. Why is rural Ireland forgotten again? Why are we left out?

Photo of Paul CoghlanPaul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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The Senator has made her point. She has gone well over time.

Photo of Jennifer Murnane O'ConnorJennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail)
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Okay. I have more to say, but I appreciate the Minister of State coming in and ask that she reply to these are very serious issues. I believe crèches will close if these issues are not sorted.

Photo of Catherine ByrneCatherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator. Some of the issues she has raised do not relate to the question that was submitted, so I may not have the answers here, but I will comment on some afterwards.

On behalf of the Minister, Deputy Katherine Zappone, I am very pleased to provide an update on the measures which are being put in place to make child care more affordable for families from September. I will also outline the progress that has been made in developing the affordable childcare scheme, ACS. On 11 April, the Minister, Deputy Zappone, announced a range of measures, which will make child care more affordable for families from September. These measures include universal subsidies of up to €1,040 per annum per child, which will be available for all children aged between six and 36 months and targeted subsidies of up to €7,500 per annum per child, which will be delivered to families who need it most. It is these targeted subsidies that will open up opportunities for jobs, training and education for parents.

As a result of these measures, up to 70,000 children will benefit from child care support this September. This is the first big practical step to changing one of the most expensive child care systems in the world into one of the best. By addressing the affordability issue we will ease the burden on many parents for whom child care costs have become a second rent or mortgage. To ensure uptake by families and by child care providers, a public information campaign has been under way since mid-May. Contracting with child care providers is now under way and registration of children for all these subsidies will go live from 21 August.

Significant progress continues to be made on the development of the ACS. A project board, chaired by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, meets every three weeks to oversee this development. Work on the drafting of legislation is currently in progress. It is anticipated that a draft Bill will be brought to Government by end of the third quarter, with a view to enactment in the autumn. The main development of the ACS project is now subject to the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, OGCIO, peer review process. The peer review group, which was established in early May 2017, is currently reviewing the ACS business case. The next stage of this process is the request for tender, RFT, for the procurement of the ICT development. It is anticipated that the RFT will be presented to the peer review group by the end of the third quarter.

Other preparatory work includes the development of an ACS communications system, the development of a governance and compliance framework, the development of a data protection strategy and the finalisation of data sharing arrangements with the Office of the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social Protection. Major consideration is also being given for the phase when the ACS is developed, tested and ready for launch. With the above factors in mind, the project board has advised the Minister, Deputy Zappone, that it is not in a position at this point in time to guarantee a timeline for delivery of the ACS. The RFT stage of the peer review process represents to some extent the biggest milestone of the ICT development, and drives the beginning of the timeline for full project development. The Minister, Deputy Zappone, will revert with a specific delivery date as soon as possible. In the interim, the measures being introduced this September to make child care more affordable will ensure that children and families benefit from the additional investment secured. I will come back to the Senator on the other matters.

Photo of Jennifer Murnane O'ConnorJennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State. We all know affordable child care is crucial for families. It is also important for the providers. I am disappointed, however. The fact the Minister, Deputy Zappone, did not do a review before she announced or launched anything, which is her second or third time doing so, does not seem right. There is €466 million and it is crucial that the families and children benefit, but also that the providers get their share as well. It is important for everybody to work together to make sure families get the best results from this.

Photo of Catherine ByrneCatherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Senator raised other issues which were not mentioned in the matter submitted but I have taken note of them, in particular the question about the system. I will raise the matter of the review of child care to the Minister's office straight away when I leave here. There is, as the Senator said, a substantial amount of funding being put in place over the next number of years for child care. We all know how important child care is for many young people, in particular where both partners need to work, and how important it is to have proper child care facilities in place. The contributions made by other agencies and, in particular, the Minister, Deputy Zappone's Department are an assurance that the Government is very serious about making child care a huge priority into the future and that is why so much money has been identified over the next couple of years. I will come back to the Senator on those questions.