Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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110. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the efforts he will take to address the high level of administrative duties for small childcare providers; if there are plans to streamline the administrative process for childcare providers, particularly smaller ones with less capacity to manage Departmental requirements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20916/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I am aware that some providers of early learning and childcare services have expressed concerns about the administrative burden related to providing my Departments funded childcare programmes to families.

Since 2017 my Department has provided an annual programme supports payment (PSP) to all eligible childcare services, in recognition of the administrative work associated with the various Department funded schemes.

The PSP  is based on the number of children registered in the service under each childcare programme and is usually paid in one instalment in July of each year.  €19million was distributed to providers under the PSP in 2020.

As the Deputy may be aware, the early learning and childcare programmes funded by my Department are administered by Pobal. 

Pobal has introduced a number of measures to improve the experience of childcare providers:

- a new user friendly on-line administration system, the Early Years Platform was introduced in 2019, and the administration of all childcare funding programmes is moving to this platform,

- 'how-to' guides have been produced for providers to help them to complete administrative tasks,

- additional resources have been assigned to the Pobal provider centre which offers expert advice to providers by phone or email.

In addition to support from Pobal, childcare providers can access support and advice on programme administration from the national network of County Childcare Committees which are funded by my Department.  Details of each CCC can be found at www.myccc.ie.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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111. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the position regarding AIM funding and the ongoing low pay for childcare staff on the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20917/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I am very conscious of the need for significant improvement in pay and working conditions for practitioners in early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) services. The level of pay they receive does not reflect the value of the work they do for children, for families and for the wider society and economy. It also contributes to challenges in recruitment and retention of staff, which are key to the consistency of care provided to children.

As the State is not the employer, my Department does not set wage levels nor determine working conditions for staff working in the sector. The most recent published data indicates that the average hourly wage in the sector was €12.55 in mid-2019.

I recently wrote to the Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail, recommending the establishment of a Joint Labour Committee for the sector, in line with the Programme for Government. If established, a Joint Labour Committee would provide an opportunity for relevant parties to engage in negotiations on an Employment Regulation Order, which could ultimately establish binding rates of pay and conditions for the sector. In addition, my Department has over a number of years provided a range of programmes and funding supports to service providers to support them to improve wages and working conditions.

One recent measure I took in this regard lies within the Access Inclusion Model (AIM), the objective of which is to help service providers to deliver an inclusive pre-school experience, ensuring that children with a disability can fully participate in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. In 2020 I was successful in increasing the AIM budget by €3.6 million. The majority of this additional allocation was used to increase the AIM Level 7 supports to providers from €195 per week to €210 per week, as from January 2021. This funding is provided to the pre-school provider and can be used either to reduce the adult-child ratio in the pre-school room or to buy in additional assistance.