Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

272. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on issues raised in correspondence (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21798/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

In Budget 2016, my Department announced a significant expansion to pre-school provision under the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. This measure, which will be introduced from September 2016, means that children will be eligible to start free pre-school when they reach the age of 3, and continue to avail of free pre-school until they start primary school (once the child is not older than 5 years and 6 months at the end of the pre-school year i.e. end June). Following the introduction of the expanded programme there will be three opportunities each year - in September, January and April - for eligible children to enrol for the free pre-school provision. This will ensure that children aged 3 or over have the opportunity to enrol as soon as possible after their third birthday. The extension of ECCE and the rolling entry points was a recommendation of Right from the Start, the Report of the Expert Advisory Group on the Early Years Strategy, 2013. The maximum number of free pre-school weeks to which a child is entitled will depend on their date of birth, and the age at which they start primary school. Each pre-school provider is free to determine their own admission policies, once these are within the terms of the ECCE Programme.

Any scheme funded by Government must have a strong governance regime in place to ensure taxpayers' money is spent appropriately. From the inception of ECCE, services who chose to provide it were required to sign a contract. This contract was recently updated with much of the original content remaining, for example, delivery of ECCE over a 38 week period, in keeping with the school year and traditional pre-school practice.

With regards to payment for non-attendance of children availing of the ECCE Programme, the rules of the Programme make provision for payment to continue in instances where the child is absent for periods of 4 consecutive weeks or less. It is only in instances where a child is absent for a period of more than 4 consecutive weeks that the pre-school provider is obliged to cease claiming payment. If the child subsequently returns to the service, payment will be re-instated. This has been a pre-requisite of the ECCE Programme since it began in 2010. If there is good reason for absence beyond 4 weeks a service must contact their local City and County Childcare Committee (CCC) in writing to seek authorisation not to submit a PIP Leaver Form. The CCC will submit a note on the PIP system for compliance purposes. The service provider should keep any record of authorisation not to submit a PIP Leaver Form on file for compliance purposes.

The objective of the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme is to make early learning in a formal setting available to eligible children in the year before they commence primary school. Approximately 96% of pre-school children have accessed the (ECCE) scheme over the last number of years, demonstrating both good supply and good take-up across the country. The expansion of the ECCE Programme will see the number of children benefitting from the Programme rise from around 67,000 to around 127,000 in a given programme year. Children’s entitlement to ECCE will increase from 38 weeks currently for all children, to an average of 61 weeks (ranging from 51 to 88 weeks depending on date of birth and age starting school). The expansion of ECCE enables services to increase income by 60% or more by increasing the number of places they provide in morning or afternoon sessions. From September 2016 my Department is restoring the ECCE capitation rates to €64.50 for basic capitation and €75 for higher capitation for graduate led services, per child, per week. My Department has also made amendments to the rules for higher capitation payments to allow services claim this higher rate per pre-school room. Historically the higher payment was made only to services where every pre-school room was led by a graduate. This reform of the rules, which the sector sought for some time, will enable this additional €10.50 per child per week be availed of by more services and, at the same time, assists with our agenda to improve the quality of service through a more qualified workforce.

A further opportunity for early years providers to increase their income arises from the investment in 8000 new CCS places in 2016, places which can, for the first time, be availed of through private childcare providers. The CCS provides subsidisation of childcare costs of up to €95 per week per child for eligible families.

I am committed to continuing efforts to make high quality and affordable childcare available to all who need it and at the same time to dealing with challenges faced by thousands of early years providers around the country.