Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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151. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the households and persons permitted to avail of childcare in crèches; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2028/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Between 11th and 31st January, access to early learning and childcare services is restricted to the children of essential workers and vulnerable children.  The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) pre school programme is not operating during this time.

Essential workers are those that work in the list of essential services published on gov.ie.  One parent who is an essential worker confers eligibility on the child to access a service.  For the purposes of accessing early learning and childcare services, an essential worker may be working from home.

Vulnerable children include those who currently have sponsorship arrangements under the National Childcare Scheme (NCS).  In addition, a child may be considered vulnerable because of factors related to their personal development, features of their family life, or because of wider influences that impact on them within their community.  Some children who fall outside of NCS sponsor arrangements may be considered vulnerable for a range of reasons including children who experience family poverty; children and families with complex support needs; children living in households where there is domestic violence; and children whose families are significantly adversely affected by ill health or bereavement. Early learning and childcare providers have been requested to make every effort to accommodate vulnerable children during this period. 

The levels of uptake of services will be closely monitored by my Department during January and the conditions on children’s eligibility to access services during this period will be subject to ongoing review.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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152. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth his engagement with the Minister for Health with regard to the provision of childcare for frontline workers during the level 5 lockdown; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2042/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I have had spoken with Minister Donnelly on a number of occasions since the full level five restrictions were put in place on the 30th December on this specific issue. The provision of suitable childcare for the children of frontline healthcare workers, particularly for those with new childcare needs as a result of the closure of schools, is a significant concern for the Government. My officials have been examining options as regards this and are engaging with colleagues in the Department of Health to address the issue.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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153. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will review the resources which are available to early year service providers prior to reopening in terms of cleaning and sanitising facilities and equipment (details supplied). [2045/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Expert guidance on the operation of Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) services during the COVID-19 pandemic was published by the HPSC last year and is available at . The advice from the national public health experts is that no change is required to the Infection Prevention and Control guidance for settings providing ELC/SAC during the pandemic. Services have been following this guidance effectively since reopening last June and it has helped to minimise risk of spread of infection within settings.

While the Guidance provided by the HPSC recommends increased frequency and extent of cleaning regimes during the pandemic there is no requirement for a service to undertake a deep clean in advance of reopening.  It is important to note that the sector already had cleaning, hygiene and infection control measures in place before COVID and the good practice in the sector has been a significant contributor to the relatively low incidences of COVID in ELC and SAC services.

In relation to cleaning rooms/settings where there was a suspected or confirmed case of Covid-19, advice set out in the HPSC Guidance should be followed.

A range of financial resources are available to assist service providers with operating costs at this time, including the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme and the continuation of Departmental funding schemes.