Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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334. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on a matter (details supplied) regarding the affordable child care scheme; her proposals for including alternative forms of child care; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4749/17]

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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335. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on a matter (details supplied) regarding the affordable child care scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4787/17]

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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336. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on a matter (details supplied) regarding the affordable child care scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4788/17]

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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337. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on a matter (details supplied) regarding the affordable child care scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4789/17]

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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338. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on a matter (details supplied) regarding the affordable child care scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4790/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 334 to 338, inclusive, together.

I am committed to the provision of childcare options for families that respect parental choice and reflect international evidence on how to attain the best outcomes for children. While operational responsibility for these do not fall within my policy remit as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, I support the extension of parental leave for parents; particularly in the crucial first year. The Government has provided additional support for stay-at-home parents through the home carer tax credit, which has been increased to €1,100 per year. I support an increase in the earnings threshold for this, and have raised this with the Minister for Finance.

It is important to recognise that the Affordable Childcare Scheme is only one element of a broader set of commitments and supports aimed at parents and children. The provision of improved services for centre-based care is very important, but I will not lose sight of the needs of children who do not attend them. In this regard, Better Outcomes Brighter Futures: The National Policy Framework for Children and Young Peoplecontains a commitment to produce Ireland's first-ever National Early Years Strategy. The intention is to deliver a cross-cutting strategy which will take a joined-up, whole of Government approach to the issue of supporting children and their families during the early years (0-6 years). The drafting of the National Early Years Strategy is well advanced. In December I hosted an Open Policy Debate on the strategy with a view to completion of the strategy this year.

My Department also provides a number of childcare schemes which are available to all families, both working parents and parents who choose to stay at home to care for their children. The ECCE free pre-school programme has been extended from September 2016 - children's eligibility for ECCE has increased from 38 weeks 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 Affordable Childcare Scheme will also be open for all families, whether or not they are in employment.

The Affordable Childcare Scheme responds to a specific need to increase the affordability, quality and supply of early years and school-age care and education services in Ireland. It also reflects a core recommendation of the 2015 Inter-Departmental Group on Future Investment in Childcare in Ireland to replace the existing targeted childcare schemes, which are administratively complex and inadequate in terms of accessibility, with a single, streamlined and more user-friendly scheme. The Scheme also responds specifically to the high cost of childcare in Ireland, which has been criticised by the European Commission and Irish families.

Quality assurance will be an absolute prerequisite for participation in the Affordable Childcare Scheme and the Scheme will not be limited to centre-based providers. The Scheme will be open to all Tusla-registered childcare providers, including Tusla-registered child minders. Child minders who mind three or fewer pre-school children in the child minder's own home are exempt from the Child Care Regulations, and are thus not subject to inspection by Tusla. In order to meet the needs of parents whose preference is to use a child minder under the Affordable Childcare Scheme, and to build capacity to cater for increased demand in future years, the Department has commenced talks with Childminding Ireland (CMI) in recent months to explore a number of options around how quality can be assured within the child minding sector.

A Working Group has been established, chaired by CMI, and including officials from Tusla and the DCYA, to make recommendations on reforms and supports for the sector in the short, medium and long term, and the feasibility and implications of the migration from voluntary to mandatory regulation. These will include recommendations in relation to child minders who are not currently eligible to apply for registration with Tusla (those minding three or fewer pre-school children, or those minding school age children only).