Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 148: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in view of the low number of voluntary Health Service Executive notified childminders nationally, her plans to regulate this sector by bringing all paid childminders under the Childcare Pre-School Regulations, 2006; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29846/12]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I recently announced that my Department has begun work on Ireland's first Early Years Strategy. I have received Government approval for the approach I am taking in developing to this Strategy as an innovative and dynamic blueprint for the future development of Ireland's Early Years sector aimed at providing a coherent approach to seeking to improve the lives of children from birth to age six.

One of the issues of policy which I have identified for consideration in the preparation of the new Strategy is the development of the childminding sector as a fully-integrated component of early childhood care and education, in particular for under-one age group. At present pre-school services are regulated under the Child Care (Pre-School Services) (No.2) Regulations 2006, as provided for under Part VII of the Child Care Act 1991. Services providing care for children who have not yet commenced primary school are required to notify their service to the Pre-School Inspectorate of the Health Service Executive (HSE) and are subject to inspection and report by the Inspectorate on a regular basis. Services covered by the Regulations include full-time, part-time and sessional services as well as childminders taking care of more than three pre-school children from different families in the childminder's home.

Childminders taking care of not more than three pre-school children from different families are not covered by the Regulations, recognising parental choice to place children with friends and neighbours, and the challenges of the over-regulation of the more informal arrangements chosen by parents. The National Guidelines for Childminders, compiled by the National Childcare Co-ordinating Committee which oversees the development of an integrated child care infrastructure throughout the country, provide guidance to childminders on good practice, and assist them to decide whether they are subject to the Regulations, as well as providing other useful information on the role of the childminder in the provision of childcare services.

As is the case with all regulatory requirements, the Child Care Regulations set the minimum standards which services are legally required to comply with. However, my Department is pro-active in monitoring, promoting and developing the highest standards of care and education throughout the sector, including the regulatory environment, given the important role which these services play in this crucial phase of children's lives.