Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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713. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the estimated cost of the reinstatement of the childminding advisory service. [18231/20]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The National Childminding Initiative, which began in 2002, contained a number of strands to support childminders. One of the strands was the appointment of Childminding Advisory Officers, some of whom were employed by the HSE and some by City and County Childcare Committees. Their roles included offering information, support and training to childminders; maintaining the voluntary notification system; and administering other supports for childminders. The Childminding Advisory Officer posts were largely discontinued in 2012-2013 in the context of widespread budget cuts at that time. 

In 2019 my Department put in place a National Childminding Coordinator, who is located within the Department, and 6 Childminding Development Officers, who are located within City and County Childcare Committees around the country and who have a regional remit. Their role is to prepare the childminding sector for the move towards wider regulation and in the immediate term to support childminders who are subject to the current regulations but are not yet registered with Tusla to meet Tusla registration requirements, thus enabling more childminders to take part in the National Childcare Scheme. The cost of these posts is €500,000 per annum, which includes costs for salaries, PRSI, travel and subsistence and overheads. The cost of expanding the team of Childminding Development Officers in order to have a Childminding Development Officer in each of the City/County Childcare Committees would be an additional €1.6 million.

Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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714. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the estimated additional cost of increasing the learner fund to allow all childcare workers currently holding level 5 qualifications to progress to level 6 from September 2020. [18232/20]

Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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715. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the estimated additional cost of increasing the learner fund to a level which would allow 50% of childcare workers currently holding level 6 qualifications to progress to level 7 from September 2020. [18233/20]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 714 and 715 together.

As per Pobal's Annual Early Years Sector Profile Report for 2018/2019, there were estimated to be (following extrapolation of survey data) 26,882 staff working directly with children in early learning and care and school-age childcare services. Of these, it is estimated that 26.8% (7,204) held a level 5 major award as their highest qualification and 41.8% (11,237) held a level 6 major award as their highest qualification. On this basis and if the level of State funding remained the same as the maximum amount of funding available under the current Learner Fund bursary (i.e. a contribution to costs of €750 per student), the additional cost to the Learner Fund would be €5.4m to bring all 7,204 early learning and care practitioners holding a level 5 qualification at the time of the survey up to a Level 6 qualification. To bring 50% of the 11,237 early learning and care practitioners holding a level 6 qualification at the time of the survey up to a Level 7 qualification, the increase in the cost of the Learner Fund (with a bursary of €750 per student) would be €4.214m.

These figures are based on the value of previous Learner Fund bursaries. The full cost of undertaking a Level 6 qualification for a level 5 practitioner is greater than €750, and the cost for a practitioner of undertaking a Level 7 degree is even higher. These costs, which are borne by practitioners, vary depending on a number of factors, including where the individual chooses to undertake their course, as course fees vary. If the State were to meet the full cost for these practitioners of undertaking Level 6 and 7 courses, the costs would be considerably higher than indicated above.