Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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25. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the status of proposals to assist parents with after-school child-minding services in public schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42509/15]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I established an Inter-Departmental Group earlier this year to consider options for future investment in early years and after-school childcare. This Group reported to Government in July this year, setting out a range of options for future investment to enhance affordability, increase the accessibility and improve the quality of early years and after-school childcare.

Several recommendations of the Group, which relate to after-school childcare, were considered as part of the Estimates process for the Budget and will be funded in 2016. These include a €3 million capital fund, which will be provided to enable both community/not-for-profit and private providers to develop after-school childcare services using existing school and other accessible community facilities. Work will also begin on the development of Quality Standards for After-School Childcare, along with a consultation with children on their views about after-school childcare.

These new developments add to the range of programmes implemented by my Department to assist parents in accessing quality and affordable after-school childcare. These include:

- The After-School Childcare (ASCC) programme that provides after-school care for primary school children of eligible parents for a period of 52 weeks. Eligibility for the programme is determined by the Department of Social Protection. The programme contributes €40 per week for an after-school place or €80 per week in situations where the childcare service provides a pick-up service that collects the child from school. The programme also provides a full day care rate of €105 per week, for a maximum of 10 weeks, to cater for school holiday periods. In all cases, the maximum fee payable by parents is €15 per week per child.

- The Community Employment Childcare (CEC) programme, which is targeted specifically at participants in the Community Employment (CE) schemes operated by the Department of Social Protection. Under this programme, €80 per week is provided for pre-school places for children up to the age of 5 and €40 per week for after-school places for primary school children up to the age of 13, with a set charge of €15 per week to the parent in either case. The programme also provides a part time day care rate of €80 per week, for a maximum of 10 weeks, to cater for school holiday periods. Places are approved for 50 weeks. Eligibility for the CEC programme is determined by the Department of Social Protection.

- The Childcare Education and Training Support (CETS) programme, which provides childcare places, including part-time and after-school places, to qualifying Solas or Education and Training Boards (ETB) trainees or students for the duration of their courses. Eligibility for the CETS programme is determined by the Department of Education and Skills.

- The Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) programme provides funding to community childcare services to enable them to provide quality childcare, including after-school care, at reduced rates to disadvantaged and low income working parents.

Progress has already been made to begin implementation of the specific measures related to after-school childcare that I announced as part of Budget 2016. For example:

- The City/County Childcare Committees and the Voluntary Childcare Organisations funded by my Department have already agreed to work collaboratively in 2016 to develop Quality Standards for After-School Childcare,

- The Citizen Participation Unit in my Department has agreed to undertake the consultation with children on their views about after-school childcare. This consultation process, which will inform the work on quality standards, will be undertaken in the first half of 2016, and

- The terms and conditions for the €3 million capital fund, which will be provided to enable both community/not-for-profit and private providers to develop after-school childcare services, are currently being drafted. It is envisaged that this programme of capital funding will be announced in the first quarter of 2016.

In addition, the Budget 2016 package also funded the establishment of a dedicated Project Team to develop a single Affordable Childcare Programme to provide working families with good quality childcare at a cost they can afford. Work on the Affordable Childcare Programme will begin immediately, so that it can be in place in 2017. This single programme will replace the existing programmes which support early years and after-school childcare. It will provide a new simplified subsidy programme, available through both community/not-for-profit and private childcare providers.