Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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751. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if school age children are permitted in day care and Montessori facilities from 29 June 2020. [12753/20]

Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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760. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if crèches can reopen their afterschool facilities; the guidance issued to them on same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13080/20]

Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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762. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will consider the concerns raised by a healthcare worker that cannot access childcare (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13082/20]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 751, 760 and 762 together.

The Government Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business allows for the phased reopening of both Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare services from 29 June.

On Friday 5 June, my Department published a range of online resources and guidance to support service providers, practitioners and parents to prepare for the reopening of Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare settings, including childminders. The Guidance for Reopening webpage is available on the :

As with services for pre-school children, school-age childcare services may reopen from 29 June. There is nothing in the Government Roadmap or in the guidance provided by my Department that limits services to reopen for children under the age of six only.

The resources available on the First 5 website include guidance to help support providers in managing allocation of places when services reopen where demand for places is greater than the capacity within a service. Where possible it is proposed that children should be enabled to return to the service they used pre-COVID-19.

On 10 June a major funding package was announced to facilitate the reopening of Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare services from 29 June. This funding includes capital and reopening grants to support services reopening over the summer. All DCYA subsidy schemes will resume, as may the charging of fees to privately paying parents.

It must be noted that my Department is not the owner/employer of school-age childcare services; they are private businesses and specific decisions on whether, when and how to reopen are a matter for the individual service provider.

Parents are encouraged to discuss any concerns they may have with their service provider.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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752. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the costs associated with the pilot meal programme being planned in early learning and care under First 5, the Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families 2019-2028; the settings that will be covered; the number of children that will be covered in the pilot; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12774/20]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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First 5, the Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families 2019-2028 commits to piloting a meals programme in Early Learning and Care (ELC) settings. In 2019, as part of Budget 2020, funding was secured to pilot this initiative. The meals programme will be trialled in a sample of approximately 45 community, not-for-profit ELC settings. The focus of the pilot is for children participating in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme.

 Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the pilot was due to run for the full duration of the 2020/2021 ECCE programme year (i.e. 38 weeks from September to June). Pilot timelines have been altered due to the closure of ELC settings but it is intended to run the pilot from January 2021 to the end of June 2021.  

A range of meals options will be piloted, including a hot meals option. Rates for meals will be based on the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection’s School Meals Programme. A Working Group to oversee this pilot will soon be established to lead the development, roll-out of the pilot and the commission of services of an external evaluator. No decision has yet been made on how the settings will be selected. 

Following the conclusion of the pilot and the evaluation, consideration will be given to extending this meals programme to a larger number of ELC settings and on a more a permanent basis.

Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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754. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if early childcare facilities will have to re-register children post-Covid-19; and his views on whether it would be more appropriate and less time consuming if these facilities removed children that are not returning from their listings. [12896/20]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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My Department, in conjunction with Pobal, the agency which administers the childcare funding schemes operated by my Department, has established a simplified registration system for children who are returning to childcare on or after 29 June, and who are availing of the Department funded CCSP scheme. 

My Department considered the option suggested by the Deputy of requiring childcare providers to deregister children who did not return to services immediately on reopening, but concluded that this option would cause a greater admirative burden for providers, as children who returned to a service after the day it reopened, would need to be deregistered and then registered again on the CCSP scheme.   My Department rejected this option as it would cause an additional administrative burden for providers.

Pobal and the County Childcare Committees (CCCs) are available to provide support and guidance to childcare service providers through this process.