Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection if he will provide details of the proposed new community employment scheme for workers in the childcare sector and the proposed budget for this initiative. [14229/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Department of Social Protection is improving the provision of training and work experience for CE participants on Community Employment overall. Recent developments have focused on CE schemes involved in supporting community child-care services and on CE participants who wish to pursue a career in child-care while on CE. These developments reflect the findings of a number of recent reviews - the “CE Financial Review of Schemes” (2012) and the “Review of Department of Social Protection Employment Support Schemes” (2012). In response, the Department is planning a number of improvements which will provide a clear career progression path and a structure for CE participants in Early Years Services.

These improvements will provide a more tailored and valuable support to the provision of community child-care and achieve greater coherence between CE participation and the job market. The Department has engaged with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DYCA) regarding the qualification requirements and progression path for CE participants.

In addition to engagement with the DCYA, there has been consultation with the representatives of the Child-care Sector including County Childcare Committees, and schemes currently involved in child-care provision.

As the programme is in the early stages of design, it is too early to provide a definitive budget statement. However, the current arrangements for allocation of the CE budget will apply to this initiative.