Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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445. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if the additional funding that will enable displaced persons with residency in the State under the European Union Temporary International Protection Directive to benefit from supports under the national childcare scheme (details supplied) will be paid out of the Covid Contingency Fund; if not, if it will be funded through additional voted expenditure or otherwise; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35688/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Beneficiaries of the Temporary International Protection Directive are not currently eligible for supports under the National Childcare Scheme.

Their exclusion from the NCS is being rectified by way of an amendment to the Childcare Support Act 2018,  which is being brought as part of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022, which is currently before this House., and which I hope can be passed within the next week.  Once this Bill is enacted, beneficiaries of the Temporary International Protection Directive will be able to access NCS supports.  Once enacted these families will be able to avail of NCS supports on the same basis as other eligible families. 

The cost of subsidies for beneficiaries of the Temporary International Protection Directive will be met from the NCS budget.  The Covid Contingency Fund will not be used for NCS subsidies.

The NCS provides both universal and targeted subsidies to families on a progressive basis, with families with the greatest need receiving the highest subsidies.

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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446. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if his Department has carried out an analysis of expenditure or forecasting on the impact of providing persons with residency in the State under the European Union Temporary International Protection Directive access to the national childcare scheme; and, if so, the cost in 2022 and 2023, in relation to these changes. [35689/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Beneficiaries of the Temporary International Protection Directive are not currently eligible for supports under the National Childcare Scheme.

Their exclusion NCS is being rectified by way of an amendment to the Childcare Support Act 2018, which is being brought as part of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022, which is currently before this House., and which I hope can be passed within the next week.  Once this Bill is enacted, beneficiaries of the Temporary International Protection Directive will be able to access NCS supports. 

The NCS provides both universal and targeted subsidies to families on a progressive basis, with families with the greatest need receiving the highest subsidies.  

- The Universal Subsidy is currently available to all families with children under 3 years old, but will be extended to all children under 15 from 1 September 2022.  This subsidy is not means tested and provides 50c per hour towards the cost of a childcare, which is worth over €1,100 per annum for a child in full time childcare.   

- Income Assessed Subsidies are available to families with children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years. This subsidy is means tested and varies depending on family income, the child’s age and educational stage, and the number of children in the family.  This subsidy can, for those families most in need, cover the full cost of childcare.

With regard to the cost of providing NCS supports to families fleeing Ukraine, based on the age profile of the people who are already in the State, my Department has calculated that 25% of all beneficiaries of the Temporary  International Protection Directive are ages 12 and under, and therefore the ages most likely to use childcare services, including after-school services.  

The NCS is a demand led scheme it is not possible to accurately calculate the cost of expanding the NCS to Temporary  International Protection Directive beneficiaries, as it is dependent on the number of families who come to Ireland from Ukraine and on the childcare decisions made by those individual families.