Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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934. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will ensure that funding is put in place for childcare providers to receive a wage all year round. [13051/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I am very conscious of staffing pressures in the early learning and childcare (ELC) sector, and of the need for improvement in pay and working conditions for early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners.

As the State does not employ staff in ELC and school-age childcare (SAC) services, I cannot set wage levels or determine working conditions for staff in the sector. Additionally, as ELC services are private businesses, their policies on operating hours and staffing are a matter for the service provider. As such, the decision to close a service for part of the year, e.g. outside term-times for services that offer the ECCE free pre-school programme, lies with the service provider.

In December 2021 I published "Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC), 2022-2028". This Plan includes specific actions for moving to a graduate-led workforce by 2028, establishing a career framework for staff working in the ELC and SAC sector, including role profiles, qualifications requirements and the strengthening of career pathways. Nurturing Skills also includes actions to support the recruitment and retention of staff with the necessary qualifications, and ongoing staff training and development, to create a workforce which feels valued and is motivated to deliver the best possible service to children.

For more information on Nurturing Skillsplease see www.gov.ie/NurturingSkills.

One of the key enablers set out in Nurturing Skills was the need to improve the pay and conditions for the workforce. On 15 September 2022, following a process I commenced the year before, the first ever Employment Regulation Orders for Early Years Services came into effect, setting new minimum hourly rates of pay for different roles in the sector, including higher minimum rates for lead educators and managers with relevant degree-level qualifications.

It is estimated that 73% of those working in the sector saw their wages rise as a result. The Orders are being supported by Core Funding, which has an allocation of €259 million in its first year, to support improvements in staff wages, a freeze in parental fees, and sustainability of services.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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935. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will ensure that AIM funding is provided in a timely manner. [13052/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) is a suite of universal and targeted supports designed to ensure that children with a disability can access the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme.

The key objective of AIM is to support early learning and care providers to deliver an inclusive pre-school experience, ensuring that children with a disability can meaningfully participate in the ECCE programme, thereby reaping the benefits of quality pre-school education.

Pobal on behalf of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth administers AIM. Applications for AIM Level 7 supports open in May each year, for the upcoming programme call. Service providers in conjunction with parents/carers are advised to apply for supports at least three months prior to a child’s ECCE start date. This is to allow for the processing and approval of applications.

Key to AIM is assessment of a child's needs. In many instances this will require an onsite visit and observation by a Better Start Early Years Specialist. Obviously this can only occur after the start of the programme year and as such approval cannot be immediate.

Pobal in consultation with the Department are currently taking a number of steps to minimise time to approval in the future including a review of the approach to renewals for children entering into a second year of ECCE.

Whilst the level 7 process is currently by and large in line with Pobal targets, Pobal and the Department will continue to review processes and seek opportunities to create efficiencies.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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936. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth how an individual can receive funding to cover the cost of training hours for creche/childcare staff to care for a young child who requires PEG feeding. [13054/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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A wide range of training programmes and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) resources are provided and made available free of charge to early years educators, school-age childcare practitioners and childminders by my Department and by the agencies and support organisations that it funds, including Better Start, the City / County Childcare Committees, and a number of National Voluntary Childcare Organisations. Training programmes include but are not limited to the National Síolta Aistear Initiative, training in child protection, the Healthy Ireland Smart Start programme, the Leadership for Inclusion Programme, and other training programmes that form part of the Access and Inclusion Model. Funding has also been provided in recent years for services to undertake the First Aid Responder training programme.

Various funding programmes run by my Department, including the ECCE programme, the National Childcare Scheme, and most recently the new Core Funding for early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare services, support staffing costs, which include staff 'non-contact time', e.g. time for participation in training programmes. Although Core Funding is calculated based on the hours that the service is open and available to children, non-contact time is factored into the base rate. An allowance for non-contact time is built into the contribution for staff costs and there is also a separate contribution for administrative staff/time. It is at the discretion of the service as to how Core Funding is utilised, provided the purpose conforms to the approved areas of expenditure as set out in the Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement.

One of the commitments in First 5, the Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families, 2019-2028, was to undertake an end-of-year-three evaluation of the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM). AIM is a suite of universal and targeted supports designed to ensure that children with disabilities can access the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) pre-school programme. That evaluation has now been completed, with the final report due to be published later this year. Subject to evaluation findings and other relevant developments, Department officials will be considering enhancements to, and/or expansion of, AIM.