Written answers

Thursday, 11 March 2021

Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

Early Years Sector

Photo of Darren O'RourkeDarren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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147. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if since 2014, it is accurate to state that no funding has been provided by his Department to meet the specific requirements for support of naíonraí outside the Gaeltacht; the way he plans to address the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13615/21]

Photo of Roderic O'GormanRoderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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My Department is committed to supporting ELC and SAC services operating through the medium of Irish.

The Department’s ELC and SAC funded programmes are available to all services. In this regard, there are currently 267 services identified as naíonraí with Pobal and these services received over €94m in funding since 2014 from my Department in respect of the national childcare programmes.

I believe that there is much value in supporting the provision of services in the Irish language to children at an early age. Early learning and childcare services play an important role here, in particular in promoting Irish as a living language. Research shows that it is easiest to acquire a new language in the earliest years, and supporting young children to develop their Irish language skills whilst in early learning and childcare settings will benefit them as they transition to school, and can enable the revitalisation of the Irish language in communities.

In this regard my Department has collaborated extensively with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media (formerly the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht) in agreeing a comprehensive set of actions under the 5 Year Action Plan for the Irish Language 2018-2022. These actions are in support of the overarching 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030, and are designed to affirm the importance that early learning and care settings have in encouraging the development and revitalisation of the Irish language. The aim of these actions is to build on the existing measures, supports and partnerships in place in the area of Irish-medium early learning and care, and to further improve these supports and services.

First 5, the Whole of Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families, launched by my Department in 2018, contains two actions specifically aimed at supporting the development of the Irish language within the ELC and SAC sector. These actions involve ensuring that children in Gaeltacht areas have access to ELC and SAC services through Irish, and developing mechanisms to provide Irish language supports to services where there are high proportions of children learning through the medium of Irish.

Since the onset of Covid-19, my Department engaged with Irish language organisations and provided significant resources for parents, ELC and SAC providers and practitioners, and childminders on-line. Material was made available in both Irish and English.

In addition, the current Continuous Professional Development offer in Irish, funded by my Department, includes child protection training and training in diversity. Comhar Naíonraí na Gaeltachta provide the Department’s programme of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) training through the medium of Irish as well as the foundation level Children First training as part of the national ELC Children First implementation plan. Tusla has made the Children First eLearning module available in Irish. Online resources relating to the early years curriculum, the Aistear-Síolta Practice Guide, are available in Irish on the NCCA website.

Photo of Darren O'RourkeDarren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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148. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if the needs of the naíonraí are excluded from the planning stages for new strategies, schemes, facilities, services, inspections and so on by his Department or its funded agencies; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that this leaves naíonraí without the correct support or funding from the State; the way he plans to address the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13616/21]

Photo of Roderic O'GormanRoderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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My Department is committed to supporting ELC and SAC services operating through the medium of Irish.

Officials have engaged in numerous strategies whose aim is to encourage the development of the Irish language in the early learning and care (ELC) and school age childcare (SAC) sector. Collaboration between my Department and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media (formerly the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht) has resulted in a set of actions under the 5 Year Action Plan for the Irish Language 2018-2022. These actions are in support of the overarching 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language, and are designed to affirm the importance of ELC in encouraging the development and revitalisation of the Irish language. These actions will build on the existing measures, supports and partnerships in place.

First 5, the Whole of Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families, launched by my Department in 2018, contains two actions specifically aimed at supporting the development of the Irish language within the ELC sector. These involve ensuring that children in Gaeltacht areas have access to early learning services through Irish, and developing mechanisms to provide Irish language supports to services where there are high proportions of children learning through the medium of Irish.

My Department also engages extensively with the ELC and SAC sector, including Irish language stakeholders on a range of issues, including development of new plans and initiatives. Irish language stakeholders have been represented at the Early Learning and Care Stakeholder Forum since its inception in 2016 and consultations conducted by my Department, including recent consultations on a childminding action plan, a new workforce development plan and a new funding model for the sector were conducted in both Irish and English

In addition, inspections of ELC services are carried out by two Inspectorates, the Tusla Early Years Inspectorate and the Department of Education (DE) Early Years Inspectorate.

The dedicated early-years DE Inspectorate team, since its establishment in 2016, conducts inspections to support a key action in the Policy on Gaeltacht Education – to enhance the delivery of inspection services through Irish in naíonraí. DE carry out inspections nationally in naíonraí. The reports for these ELC settings are published in both Irish and English. Over the past year, the DE have also developed a series of communications in both Irish and English to share the findings from inspection in ELC settings and provide advice and guidance to support internal self-evaluation and review processes in support of quality improvement. The Insights: Quality in Education webinar series can be accessed on: . The DE are currently developing a webinar on supporting immersion language education in naíonraí drawing on the findings of their published education inspection reports in Irish medium ELC settings in both Gaeltacht and non-Gaeltacht areas.

Of the current total inspection team of 20 (Whole-time Equivalent) inspectors, seven have strong capacity to engage in Early Years Education Inspection (EYEI) fully through Irish, including the writing of inspection reports, providing feedback for continuous improvement and responding in Irish to issues raised by personnel in the early years’ services. All inspectors who have the capacity to conduct EYEI through Irish are available to do so on an ongoing basis.

In addition to the inspection activity, DE have also endeavoured to provide feedback to the ELC sector on the progress and findings of their inspection activity. DE have published a revised Guide to EYEI informed by extensive consultation with stakeholders and partners in the ELC sector including Irish language organisations. All of these inspection materials are available in both Irish and English.

Tusla’s Early Years Inspectorate has shown a strong commitment to supporting ELC services where Irish is spoken. Tusla have one Irish language Inspector, and inspection reports are made available to services in Irish. Other Inspectorate documents, such as the recently published Quality & Regulatory Framework (QRF) for Sessional services, are translated into Irish and made available in hard and electronic copy. The Inspectorate engages with Irish language representative organisations operating in the sector such as Comhar Naíonraí na Gaeltachta (CNNG).

Since the onset of Covid-19 related, my Department engaged with Irish language organisations and provided significant resources for parents, ELC and SAC providers and practitioners, and childminders on-line. Material was made available in both Irish and English.

Photo of Darren O'RourkeDarren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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149. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if his attention has been drawn to the fact that there is no official recognition for naíonraí services that operate through the medium of Irish which means that there is no proper inspection or quality assurance system to ensure that Irish is the language of the naíonra; the way he plans address the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13617/21]

Photo of Roderic O'GormanRoderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Early learning and Childcare (ELC) services are private businesses, and determine themselves the medium through which they provide their service. My Department provides funding to ELC providers through various funding programmes to subsidise the cost of ELC, and this is available to both Irish and English medium services. There are currently 267 services that identify as naíonraí with Pobal.

Although it is not within the remit of my Department to inspect the quality of the language spoken in an ELC service, the Better Start Quality Development Services, which is a national initiative established by my Department to bring an integrated national approach to developing quality in ELC, have three staff currently working with the Department of Education on the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) Pilot Project (Irish) Working Group. This is a three-year pilot project based on a CLIL approach to the teaching and learning of Irish in a number of ELC settings and primary and post-primary schools.

Furthermore, the Department of Education are currently developing a webinar on supporting immersion language education in naíonraí drawing on the findings of their published education inspection reports in Irish medium ELC settings in both Gaeltacht and non-Gaeltacht areas.

My Department remains committed to supporting ELC and SAC services operating through the medium of Irish.

Photo of Darren O'RourkeDarren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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150. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if his attention has been drawn to the fact that initial training and certified continuous professional development through the medium of Irish is not available to naíonraí outside the Gaeltacht; the way he plans to address the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13618/21]

Photo of Roderic O'GormanRoderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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My Department strives to support and facilitate early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) services operating through the medium of Irish, both inside and outside the Gaeltacht.

The Department encourages all ELC and SAC services to engage in continuing professional development (CPD) on an ongoing basis to ensure quality of provision and to meet regulatory requirements. Central to training, mentoring and CPD supports are the Better Start Quality Development Service and supports for the implementation of the Aistear national curriculum framework and Síolta national quality framework, which are available in all areas of the country.

The Better Start Quality Development Service provides mentoring supports to ELC services including through the medium of Irish, and an Irish-speaking mentor can be requested at entry to this process. The foundation training courses in Aistear and Síolta, and the follow-on Aistear and Play CPD programme, are available in Irish when requested. Online resources to support services with implementing the Aistear-Síolta Practice Guide are available in Irish (at ) through the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. The online foundation level in Children First child protection training is also available in Irish.

As part of the response to Covid-19 restrictions on ELC and SAC services, a new online repository of CPD resources and training has been made available on the First 5 website, which is available in Irish (). Some but not all of the CPD resources available through this website are in Irish.

My Department is currently engaged in a significant planning process for training and continuing professional development in the ELC and SAC sector through the Workforce Development Plan. This work will include consideration of the availability of CPD through the medium of Irish.

More broadly, while a wide range of supports are available in Irish to services both inside and outside the Gaeltacht areas, my Department continues to examine how further to strengthen engagement and supports to our important Naíonraí services.

Photo of Darren O'RourkeDarren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

151. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if his attention has been drawn to the fact that there is a huge administrative burden for early years staff reporting on schemes and inspections which is even more burdensome for naíonra staff given their working language is not taken into account; the way he plans to address the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13619/21]

Photo of Roderic O'GormanRoderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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In 2017, my Department introduced Programme Support Payments (PSP) to recognise the additional time required of early learning and childcare (ELC) providers to complete the administrative work associated with DCEDIY funding programmes. The payment also recognises the time required to perform activities outside of contact time with children, such as preparing materials for sessions and engaging with parents.

For the last programme year 2019-20, €19.4 million was paid out to services in PSP based on the number of children registered in the service. An amount of €19.4 million has again been secured for the current programme year 2020-21 and will be paid out at the end of June 2021.

The City/County Childcare Committees (CCCs) also provide support and guidance to local ELC providers and parents in relation to the DCEDIY funding programmes, and support quality in keeping with national frameworks and policy objectives.

Within the CCCs in the Gaeltacht areas, there are a number of Irish speakers that offer support to the ELC providers operating though the medium of Irish. The Comhar Naíonra na Gaeltachta (CNNG) development workers provide direct support to the stiúrthóirí in these services. The CCCs also offer support to the CNNG development workers or to address any issues or challenges that may arise with regard to the administration of the DCEDIY funding programmes. CCCs also provide local training to the staff within these services.

Inspections of ELC services are carried out by two Inspectorates, the Tusla Early Years Inspectorate and the Department of Education (DE) Early Years Inspectorate.

The dedicated early-years DE Inspectorate team, since its establishment in 2016, conducts inspections to support a key action in the Policy on Gaeltacht Education – to enhance the delivery of inspection services through Irish in naíonraí. DE carry out inspections nationally in naíonraí. The reports for these ELC settings are published in both Irish and English. Over the past year, the DE have also developed a series of communications in both Irish and English to share the findings from inspection in ELC settings and provide advice and guidance to support internal self-evaluation and review processes in support of quality improvement. The Insights: Quality in Education webinar series can be accessed on: . The DE are currently developing a webinar on supporting immersion language education in naíonraí drawing on the findings of their published education inspection reports in Irish medium ELC settings in both Gaeltacht and non-Gaeltacht areas.

Of the current total inspection team of 20 (Whole-time Equivalent) inspectors, seven have strong capacity to engage in Early Years Education Inspection (EYEI) fully through Irish, including the writing of inspection reports, providing feedback for continuous improvement and responding in Irish to issues raised by personnel in the early years’ services. All inspectors who have the capacity to conduct EYEI through Irish are available to do so on an ongoing basis.

In addition to the inspection activity, DE have also endeavoured to provide feedback to the ELC sector on the progress and findings of their inspection activity. DE have published a revised Guide to EYEI informed by extensive consultation with stakeholders and partners in the ELC sector including Irish language organisations. All of these inspection materials are available in both Irish and English.

Tusla’s Early Years Inspectorate has shown a strong commitment to supporting ELC services operating through the medium of Irish. Tusla have one Irish language Inspector, and inspection reports are made available to services in Irish. Other Inspectorate documents, such as the recently published Quality & Regulatory Framework (QRF) for Sessional Services, are translated into Irish and made available in hard and electronic copy. The Inspectorate engages with Irish language representative organisations operating in the sector such as Comhar Naíonraí na Gaeltachta (CNNG).

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