Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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43. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the changes to existing legislation that the introduction of the new affordable child care scheme will necessitate; the timeline that she plans to use to make these changes to the legislation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39926/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I am working to introduce a new Affordable Childcare scheme from next September which will provide financial support for parents towards the cost of childcare. The new scheme will provide for both universal and targeted subsidies towards the cost of childcare. It will replace the existing targeted childcare programmes with a single, streamlined and more user-friendly scheme. I want it to provide “wraparound‟ care for pre-school and school-age children.

To ensure good governance, the Affordable Childcare Scheme will be put on a statutory basis. The necessary primary legislation will encompass:

- clear and detailed rules for the assessment of income and the provision of subsidies

- clearly prescribed authority in relation to the sharing of data across public bodies and administrators

- comprehensive provisions in relation to the powers and obligations of the scheme administrator and

- high-level requirements and associated powers of sanction in relation to scheme participation by childcare providers

The primary legislation will take account of all necessary amendments to existing legislation. As part of this, the use of the PPS number and data sharing across public bodies and agencies will be supported through legislation and formal data sharing agreements. Officials in my Department are currently drafting Heads of Bill for the scheme, which are at an advanced stage. I intend to bring the Heads of Bill to Government for approval early in the New Year. Thereafter, the precise timeframe for the drafting of the legislation and its passage through the Houses will be subject to the usual considerations regarding scheduling and allocation of parliamentary time. My objective is that legislation will be in place in early summer, and I look forward to piloting this important scheme through both Houses.