Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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575. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of inspectors employed by Tusla to inspect all services in the early years sector; and the total pay and non-pay costs of this service. [23666/18]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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Tusla employs 45.28 Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) Early Years Inspectors. The total pay costs for 45.28 WTE Early Years Inspectors for the 4 month period January-April 2018 is €1.04 million. The total non-pay cost for 45.28 WTE Early Years Inspectors for the same period is €57,295.

Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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576. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the amount of funding allocated to the Learner Fund in 2017 and 2018; the number of practitioners that availed of places; and if all the funding allocated to the fund was availed of. [23667/18]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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The allocation for Learner fund in 2017 and 2018 was €3,000,000 and €2,388,000 respectively. The higher allocation in 2017 is accounted for by the addition of once off funding available in that year. An estimated 1,050 individuals in the sector benefited from Learner in 2017 alone. 

The Learner Fund was established to support the Early Years sector in meeting the minimum qualifications requirement introduced by the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016, and subsequently extended to support expansion of the ECCE programme by making provision for those wishing to achieve a Level 6 award.

The Learner Fund has achieved its initial purpose in that the workforce is now predominantly comprised of early years practitioners with the required minimum qualification. The Department now intends to shift its focus to supporting further professionalisation and continuous professional development (CPD), support that is necessary to improve the quality of childcare services and outcomes for children.

Learner funding was not fully utilised in 2017 due to a range of factors including the fact that its initial purpose had been achieved and hence demand reduced, and new arrangements for a CPD system had not been fully designed. In this regard, DCYA is progressing plans for significant investment in a broader continuing professional development model and a fuller announcement on this will be made in the near future.

At this time, it is not anticipated that any underspend will emerge in respect to the Learner Fund allocation in 2018. It might also be noted that DCYA has invested significantly in the upskilling of the workforce in both 2017 and 2018 through funding available under the Access and Inclusion Model.