James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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443. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the progress that has been made by his Department on the implementation of the Workplace Relations Commission agreement of September 2020 between a union (details supplied) and city and county childcare committees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23096/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Officials of my Department are finalising the review of the Workplace Relations Commission's consideration of the pay rates of the managers of the City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs).

The CCCs are one of the key support mechanisms of my Department, and I want to acknowledge the important role they play in providing vital support and guidance to early learning and care and school age childcare providers, and to parents. CCCs act as the local agent of my Department in the coordination and delivery of the national early education and childcare programmes and the implementation of Government policy at a local level, and in facilitating and supporting the development of quality, accessible ELC and SAC services for the overall benefit of children and their parents.

Officials from my Department will continue to engage with all parties on this matter as appropriate. It is important to note in this regard that although my Department provides annual funding to the CCCs in respect of all areas of expenditure, including salaries, it is not the employer of CCC staff, and the staff are not public sector employees.

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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444. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth his views on the shortfall of funding for a project (details supplied) as a result of the move from community childcare subvention to the new national childcare scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23105/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I greatly appreciate the hugely important role played by not-for-profit Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) services, and the value they bring to children’s lives. I am also acutely aware that there are circumstances when there is a need for special arrangements for children their services seek to support.

The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) is fairer and more far-reaching than the legacy targeted support schemes. It removes many of the very restrictive eligibility requirements, linked to Social Protection payments or a Medical Card, which were previously associated with accessing childcare support. Moving to this new system has been a significant step forward in combating the poverty traps inherent in the legacy schemes.

Under the legacy schemes there were some families with low income-levels who were not able to access subsidised childcare, either because they are in low-paid employment or because they are rotating between short periods of employment, unemployment and training. The NCS has changed this.

In replacing the legacy schemes, the NCS aims to improve children's outcomes, support lifelong learning, make work pay and reduce child poverty. It is also designed to have a positive impact on gender equality in relation to labour market participation and employment opportunities.

At a broad and simplified level, our maximum subsidy rates compare well overall with the legacy targeted scheme subsidy rates, while acknowledging that the schemes do not lend themselves to easy comparison:

The NCS is designed to be highly inclusive, to meet the needs of the most economically vulnerable children and those living with other forms of disadvantage. I will keep the Scheme under review, and I will continue to work with my officials to identify whether any refinements are needed to ensure that it delivers for those most in need.

As an immediate response, support is available to services like this through Case Management. My Department oversees a Case Management process through which local CCCs and Pobal work together to assess and provide support to early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) services experiencing difficulties. Pobal co-ordinate the overall case management process with the CCC administering on-the-ground case management assistance. This can include help with completing and interpreting analysis of staff ratios, fee setting and cash flow, as well as more specialised advice and support appropriate to individual circumstances.

Financial supports, which may also be accessed through the Case Management process, are available for community services presenting with sustainability issues following a financial assessment by Pobal. Normally, financial supports are only available for community services. However, there is a COVID-19 Impact Support funding strand available in 2021, which is for both Community and Private services.

The CCC should be the first point of contact for any service seeking support; I would therefore urge this service to contact their local CCC as soon as possible if they have not done so already.