Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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444. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the cost of the new dedicated State Agency for Early Learning and Care; the reason there is no place available on the new agency for provider representatives; and if he is confident that Frontier Economics will adhere to EU GDPR legislation for the duration of the review that they are undertaking; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9703/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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On 29th March 2022, Government accepted the findings of the independent Review of the Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC) Operating Model in Ireland that a dedicated state agency is the optimal operating model for the ELC and SAC sector for the years ahead. It is envisaged that this dedicated agency will undertake the functions currently carried out by Pobal Early Years (including Better Start), the City and County Childcare Committees, as well as operational functions currently undertaken by my Department.

A dedicated state agency will assist in the development of a more streamlined structure to better support the delivery of ELC and SAC, and will facilitate my Department in implementing and progressing the significant reform agenda envisaged under First 5, the Whole of Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families.

Considerable progress has been made in advancing this ambitious and transformative reform programme. My Department has commenced a comprehensive phase of analysis, planning, consultation, and engagement with sectoral stakeholders to determine how the recommendation arising from the Review can best be implemented. This phase will include a detailed design of a new agency, which will involve a comprehensive evidence-based cost projection for the establishment and annual running costs of a new state agency, determining the appropriate national, local and regional structures, an examination of all legal requirements, transition and continuity planning, and risk management. This work will culminate in a fully costed full agency design and implementation plan which will be presented to Government for approval.

The Programme Board to oversee planning for a dedicated State Agency for ELC and SAC, the membership of which I recently announced, comprises interdepartmental representatives alongside several external experts with experience at senior level in change management and large-scale reform, leadership, governance, public policy, and a knowledge of the ELC and SAC sector. The Board is comprised in this manner to ensure a blend of relevant external and public sector expertise to oversee this significant programme of reform in an impartial and objective manner. However, as part of an overall governance framework, my Department will be undertaking detailed and ongoing consultation with all stakeholders, including provider representatives, throughout the lifetime of the programme to ensure their invaluable views are captured and reflected in the design process. My Department will also ensure that provider representatives, and indeed all stakeholders, will be kept informed of developments throughout the design and implementation planning phase for a new national agency for ELC and SAC.

Following the completion of a procurement competition, Frontier Economics has been commissioned by my Department to complete an independent financial review of sessional services.

As part of the agreement, which has been signed with the Department, Frontier Economics has contracted to comply with all applicable national and EU data protection laws, regulations and guidelines. This includes, but is not limited to, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (the “General Data Protection Regulation”), and any guidelines and codes of practice issued by the Office of the Data Protection Commission as the supervisory authority for data protection in Ireland.

Article 45 of the GDPR allows for transfers on the basis of an adequacy decision. The EU formally adopted ‘adequacy decisions’ for the UK, which are expected to last until June 2025. These recognise that the UK provides an equivalent level of protection for personal data as the EU does.

This independent financial review of sessional services is currently underway, with the report due to be completed by end Q2 2023.