Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Since 27 June 2020, there has been very significant action taken to support the early learning and childcare (ELC) sector. The full suite of actions are set out in the First 5 Annual Implementation Reports 2020, 2021 and 2022. The recently published First 5 Implementation Plan covering the period 2023-2025 includes 125 actions for the next phase of strategy implementation, each with a defined 2025 output and a clear schedule of associated annual milestones, including milestones for 2023.

Key actions over the period of interest to the Deputy include:

Covid-19 Supports

Multiple Covid-19 support packages were developed in response to evolving circumstances to support the ELC sector. The objective of these support packages were to:

• support ELC providers’ sustainability to enable services return to normal once restrictions were lifted;
• ensure that ELC could reopen after temporary closure periods and remain open, particularly for children of essential workers and vulnerable children, even at very low levels of occupancy;
• ensure that ELC services could operate safely for children, families and staff;
• support ELC providers to retain (and upskill) their staff, particularly during periods of closures and restricted access;
• ensure increased ELC delivery costs associated with public health requirements, and lower demand / occupancy were not passed on to parents;
• ensure parents were not charged when not using ELC services during periods of closures and restricted access; and
• ensure continuity of learning experiences to children during periods of closures and restricted access through the provision of remote supports.

A package of measures, which cost in excess of €1 billion was developed to support the achievement of these objectives included:

2020

• Continuation of DCEDIY subsidy schemes on an ex-gratia basis (12 March – 5 April)
• Temporary Wage Subsidy Childcare Scheme (6 April – 28 June 2020) that layered on top of the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS), providing a top-up for staff wages and funding towards non-deferrable operational costs.
• Reopening Funding Package, (29 June – 23 August 2020), including a Reopening Support Payment, a capital grant; continued access to the TWSS and resumption of DCEDIY subsidy schemes.
• July Stimulus Package (24 August - 31 December) including the continuation of DCEDIY subsidy schemes, resumption of the ECCE Programme, the Employer Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) with an exemption to the turnover rule and a Sustainability Fund

2021

• Funding arrangements during Level 5 restrictions, including continuation of DCEDIY subsidy schemes, Covid-19 Operating Support Payment and Covid-19 Impact Support (with EWSS) and a childcare matching service for essential workers (4 January – 29 March).

2022

• A Grant to Improve Ventilation and Reduce Transmission of Covid-19 in ELC to support services to improve ventilation, given the need to mitigate risks associated with Covid-19 in line with the National Public Health guidance. HEPA filters were among eligible items under this Programme.

ELC were eligible for the EWSS, with an exemption to having to demonstrate the 30% drop in turnover that applies to other sectors.

• Between October 2020 and November 2021 enhanced rate EWSS equalled €34 million, per month, for ELC providers, covering, on average, 80% staff costs or 50% total operating costs.
• Between December 2021 and February 2022 standard rate EWSS will amount to €22 million per month for ELC providers, covering, on average, 50% staff costs or 38% total operating costs.
• From March and April 2022 a new flat rate for EWSS of €100 will apply. This amounts of €11 million per month in the sector, and will cover, on average, 25% staff costs or 11% total operating costs.

In addition, there was an extensive range of:

• public health resources to assist services to reopen and operate safely.
• CPD resources for practitioners to upskill.
• resources to prepare children for the transition back to services following periods of closures/restricted access and to ensure children's continued access to learning opportunities at home during these times

Transition Fund

A Transition Fund was put in place to support providers between May and August 2022. The Fund was designed to support the financial stability of services in the period between the end of Covid-19 supports and ahead of the introduction of a new Core Funding Scheme in September 2022, while ensuring that fees to parents do not increase.

Interim Fund

Interim Funding was put in place to bridge the gap between the end of the Transition Fund (31 August 2022) and the introduction of Core Funding (15 September 2022). This enabled a smooth transition from one scheme to the other once the Employment Regulation Orders were in effect.

Budgets

The allocation for early learning and childcare in 2020 was €638m. That allocation remained unchanged in 2021. This excluded the substantial package of Covid-19 supports outlined above that cost in excess of €1 billion.

In Budget 2022, the allocation for early learning and childcare increased by €78m to €716m. In 2023, the allocation increase by €346m to €1.025 billion. In 2024, the allocation for early learning and childcare will be €1.109 billion, a €83 million (8%) increase on the 2023 allocation.

Schemes

The overwhelming majority of funding is allocated through Together for Better, the funding model for early learning and childcare, which comprises three strands: the ECCE programme, including the Access and Inclusion (AIM), the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) and the Core Funding scheme. A fourth strand, the Equal Participation Model (EPM), will be rolled out from September 2024. Each strand of the funding model has evolved since first being introduced. Some key developments of the period of interest to the Deputy are set out below:

Access and Inclusion Model (AIM)

In 2021, the AIM Level 7 capitation rate increased from €195 per week to €210 per week.In 2022, the AIM Level 7 capitation rate increased from €210 per week to €240 per week.

In Budget 2024, I secured an additional €14m for AIM. €7m of this allocation will support the increasing cohort of children with a disability requiring AIM supports to access and meaningfully participate in the ECCE programme. An additional €7m provides for an expansion of targeted AIM supports to these children beyond time spent in the ECCE programme, in term and out of term from next September.

National Childcare Scheme (NCS)

In September 2020, the minimum and maximum NCS subsidised hours increased from 15 to 20 and 40 to 45 hours respectively

In April 2022, the practice of deducting time spent the pre-school or school from NCS subsidised hours was discontinued

In September 2022, the upper age eligibility for the NCS universal subsidy was extended from 3 years old to all children under 15 years of age.

In January 2023, the hourly NCS Universal Subsidy was increased from €0.50 to €1.40.

I announced further improvements to the NCS as part of Budget 2024 due to come into effect from September 2024, these include:

• An increase to the hourly NCS universal subsidy from €1.40 to €2.14.
• An increase to the NCS Sponsor Referral rates to €5.30 per hour for children over the age of 1.
• The introduction of childminder specific regulations in NCS legislation, which will allow a wider cohort of childminders to avail of the scheme.

Core Funding

Core Funding, was introduced in September 2022, and designed to meet the combined objectives of:

• Improved affordability for parents by ensuring that fees do not increase;
• Improved quality for children through better pay and conditions for the workforce by supporting agreement on an Employment Regulation Order through the Joint Labour Committee and supporting the employment of graduate staff; and
• Improved sustainability and stability for services.

Core Funding in Year 1 – with an overall allocation of €259 million - contributed to services’ sustainability and significantly increased income for the overwhelming majority of services while providing greater funding stability.

For Year 2 of Core Funding, the budget increased by 11% to reach €287 million, providing a sustainable platform for investment with increases for all services. Budget 2024 allocated an additional €37.4m to Core Funding. This increase on the 2023 allocation will support continued implementation of the scheme for the second programme year (September 2023 to August 2024) and into the third programme year from September 2024.

With additional funding of €14.65m being made available from September 2024, this translates into a full year allocation of €331m for year 3 of Core Funding, an increase of €44m, or 15%, on the current allocation of €287m.

This will support the delivery of a range of enhancements in Year 3 of the scheme to support improved affordability and accessibility for families, improved pay and conditions for the workforce and improved sustainability for providers.

Equal Participation Model (EPM)

Officials in my Department are progressing work to finalise the EPM which will aim to help children and their families who may be experiencing disadvantage to access ELC settings, through a range of supports, universal and targeted.

I am pleased to have secured an allocation of €4.5m to commence the first phase of roll-out of the EPM from September 2024.

Capital Funding

In addition to Covid-19-related capital grants, I secured €10.5 million for the 2021 Fire Safety Grant and the Playing Outside Grant.

In addition, some €69 million has been allocated to my Department over the period 2023-2025 to the sector under the revised National Development Plan (NDP). This will enable significant capital investment across three pillars: the Building Blocks – Improvement Grant, the Building Blocks – Capacity Grant and the Building Blocks – Innovation Grant.

Pillar 1, the Building Blocks – Improvement Grant scheme was launched in September 2022 and has operated over 2023. Grants awarded ranged from €35,000 to €75,000 across two separate strands: Green Energy and Retrofit. The Green Energy Strand supported services to increase their energy efficiency by utilising renewables, where feasible, through the installation of solar panels heat pumps, and insulation. The Retrofit Strand supported existing services in need of upgrading. A total of 151 services were offered grants under the scheme.

A range of other actions have also been taken over this period including:

Quality Supports

My Department has made significant strides over the last number of years in progressing the quality agenda both nationally and locally, to enhance quality and safety in ELC. Better Start Quality Development Service and the City and County Childcare Committees provide quality supports through mentoring and training to services all across the country.

Irish Language supports

My Department has continued to work closely with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts,

Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and the Department of Education to provide supports for Irish language provision in the ELC sector that were agreed as part of the 5 Year Action Plan for the Irish Language 2018-2022/3.

These actions are designed to affirm the importance that ELC settings have in encouraging the development and revitalisation of the Irish language.

In 2023, the development of a Comprehensive plan for Irish language provision in Early Learning and Childcare has commenced. To support the development of this Comprehensive Plan, it was necessary to survey Irish-medium ELC/SAC settings including childminders to obtain a baseline of the current level of Irish-medium provision in the sector. A report on this survey was published in October 2023.

Partnership for the Public Good

In December 2021, Government adopted the 25 recommendations contained in the Expert Group report, Partnership for the Public Good: A New Funding Model for Early Learning and Childcare and School-Age Childcare.

The 25 recommendations are grouped across five themes: Core Funding; Tackling Disadvantage; Affordability Measures; Fee Management; Role of the State.

Taken together, these recommendations reflect a key theme of the report, which is the importance of strengthened State involvement and enhanced public management in the sector, in conjunction with increased State funding. This is underpinned by a cultural shift to a partnership relationship between providers and the State that reflects the public good dimension of early learning and childcare, with new responsibilities on both sides.

Announcements in Budget 2022, 2023 and 2024 signalled the commitment to the first stage of implementation of the Expert Group’s recommendations - providing funding to introduce and/or enhance the NCS, AIM, Core Funding and the EPM.

Nurturing Skills

In December 2021, I launched Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare, 2022-2028. Nurturing Skills aims to strengthen the ongoing process of professionalisation for those working in early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC).

Nurturing Skills includes an implementation for 2022-2024.

A Monitoring Committee was established in 2022 with the task of monitoring the implementation of this plan and it published its first annual progress report in March 2023.

Review of the Child Care Act 1991

As part of the overall review of the Child Care Act 1991, a number of proposals regarding Part VII A of the Act, which regulates Early Years services, were approved by Government for drafting of the necessary legislative amendments.

The amendments as currently drafted will allow Tusla Early Years Inspectorate to immediately close unregistered early learning and childcare services, to temporarily suspend registered services where there are concerns about significant risk to children, to share information on enforcement action with parents, to place some additional enforcement measures on a legislative footing, and to introduce a “Fit Person” regulation. They will also provide for the regulation of childminders in line with the National Action Plan for Childminding 2021 – 2028.

I hope to bring these amendments to the Oireachtas in early 2024 with the intention of commencing this part of the Bill in Q3 2024.

Streamlining of Registration Process

The Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016 were amended in order to streamline the re-registration process from 2022 onwards. This change reduced the burden attached to renewal of registration for services.

Childminders

The National Action Plan for Childminding 2021 – 2028 was published in 2021. It set out a phased supported pathway to the regulation of childminders. Regulation will enable more childminders to access Government subsidies, making their services more affordable to parents. It will also enable them to access a variety of supports to assist them in meeting regulatory and quality requirements.

Since 2020, the number of childminding officers (CMDOs) based in the City and County Childcare Committees has increased from 6 to 22 FTEs, one in every county. Their role is to directly support childminders in all aspects of their business.

It is hoped that the new regulations will be ready for implementation, and registration open to childminders from autumn 2024.

National Early Learning and Childcare Agency

Indecon International Consultants were commissioned to carry out a review of the Review of the Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC) Operating Model in December 2020.

On 29 March 2022, Government accepted the findings of the Review of the Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC) Operating Model that a dedicated State agency is the optimal operating model for the ELC and SAC sector for the years ahead. This independent Review was carried out by Indecon International Consultants and published on 30th March 2022. It is envisaged that this dedicated agency will undertake the functions currently carried out by Pobal Early Years (including Better Start), the City/County Childcare Committees, as well as operational functions currently undertaken by my Department.

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. Indecon International Consultants have recently been appointed by my Department to carry out this work.