Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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584. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her policy priorities in relation to supporting the provision of early childhood care in crèches; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7928/19]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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My policy priorities in relation to supporting the provision of early learning and care is articulated in First 5, Ireland’s first ever whole-of-Government strategy to improve the lives of babies, young children and their families. This 10-year strategy sets out a roadmap for development and investment over the next decade and builds on recent and very substantial developments in early learning and care. These developments include the extension of the universal pre-school programme which now provides two years of free pre-school education to all children, schemes that subsidise the cost of early learning and care to parents and extra supports to ensure children with additional needs, including children with a disability, homeless children, programme refugee children and children in low income households, can access early learning and care. I have also given priority to a range of initiatives, including regulations, to improve the quality of provision. These developments have been made possible by an unprecedented 117% increase in investment since 2015.

Over the next decade and through First 5, this work will intensify, however, the focus on accessibility, affordability and the quality of early learning and care will remain. Initial actions include:

- introducing the Affordable Childcare Scheme, which will alter the landscape of early learning and care provision in Ireland - providing financial support for parents and establishing a sustainable platform for additional investment for decades to come ;

- developing a strategic capital investment plan to deliver the large-scale capital investment of €250 million earmarked under Project 2040;

- developing mechanisms to provide additional supports to early learning and care settings where there are high proportions of children who are at risk of poverty to mitigate the impacts of early disadvantage

- piloting a meals programme in early learning and care settings to address food poverty among young children;

- extending the award winning Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), which currently supports children with a disability to access the universal pre-school programme;

- extending regulations and supports to all paid non-relative childminders and school-age childcare;

- moving progressively towards a graduate-led professional early learning and care workforce with high quality CPD in the national quality and curriculum frameworks and setting standards for initial professional education at higher education and further education level qualifications;

- developing a new funding model for early learning and care that will support improved quality of provision for children while ensuring improved affordability for parents through mechanism to control fees and sustainability for providers; and

- doubling investment in early learning and care over the next ten years.

A three-year implementation plan for this Strategy will be published in the coming months by my Department. This will set out a timetable for delivery of these and other First 5 actions.

My Department will monitor and report on the implementation of First 5 on an annual basis.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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585. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her policy priorities in relation to supporting parents of preschool children that opt to care for them full-time at home; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7929/19]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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My Department has recently led the development of First 5, a Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families. First 5 identifies a range of measures to support families given their fundamental importance in shaping children’s experiences and outcomes. The vision for babies and young children articulated in First 5 is of a healthy childhood starting in pregnancy; time together with parents especially in the first year in a nurturing and playful home environment where material needs are met; high quality play-based Early Learning and Care experiences; positive transitions to primary school; and supportive community contexts.

The Government is committed to supporting parents in caring for young children at home in a range of ways.

Within the remit of my Department, the policy priorities are to provide access to Early Learning and Care supports to parents of young children, whether they work full time, part time, or look after their children at home full-time. These policies seek to support children’s early development and to support their families.

An example of supports for Early Learning and Care provided by my Department is that, from September of this year, all children are eligible to avail of two years of universal pre-school, without cost, through the Early Childhood Care and Education programme (ECCE) prior to beginning primary school. Some 107,000 children are already benefitting, many of whom are children of stay-at-home parents.

Furthermore the current targeted Early Learning and Care subsidy schemes are available to families where parents are in receipt of certain social welfare payments, medical cards, or GP Visit cards, again many of whom are stay-at-home parents.

A universal subsidy is available to all parents of children under the age of three, or whenever the child becomes eligible for the universal preschool programme (ECCE), regardless of whether parents are working or not. The Affordable Childcare Scheme, ACS, which will be launched later this year will make Early Learning and Care subsidies available on the basis of family income and will be available to stay-at-home parents. This is underpinned by the Childcare Support Act 2018.

My Department also provides funding for local parent and toddler groups to organise activities for parents and young children in the community to support their development through play. Both working parents and stay-at-home parents participate. 449 groups were supported in 2018.

In the coming years my Department will also be leading on developing a new model of parenting services from universal to targeted provision, covering key stages of child development and taking account of parents and children in a range of contexts and parenting relationships.

More widely across Government, there are various initiatives that support stay-at-home parents. A child benefit payment of €140 per child per month is available for all children. Budget 2019 announced an increase to the home carer tax credit to €1,500 per year.

There have also been a number of new measures to support parents to spend time at home with children in their early years. Two weeks of paternity leave and benefit for fathers was introduced in 2016. In 2017, there was an extension to maternity leave and benefit to mothers of babies born prematurely. Budget 2019 also announced the introduction of a new parental leave scheme which will be available to both fathers and mothers. First 5, the Whole of Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families sets out Government's commitment that by 2021, parents will each have an individual entitlement to seven weeks of paid parental leave, to potentially allow children to benefit from an additional 14 weeks parental care in their first year.