Anne Rabbitte

4.066 (Anne Rabbitte) - To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs whether her department will be covering PRSI and USC payments in respect of the top up which they are providing to childcare providers under the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme and the Wage Subsidy Childcare Scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. 4.07 (Anne Rabbitte) - To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs whether the Department of Children and Youth Affairs will be covering PAYE and all other tax obligations in respect of the 30% wage top up which they are provided to childcare providers under the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme.

The Deputy will be aware that I launched the DCYA Temporary Wage Subsidy Childcare Scheme (TWSCS) on 15 April.

The TWSCS supplements the Revenue operated Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS). Participants in my Department’s TWSCS with staff also benefit from the provisions of Revenue’s scheme. This includes a substantial reduction in PRSI costs. Employee PRSI will not apply to the TWSS subsidy or any additional payment by the employer (including payments under my Department’s TWSCS).

Employer’s PRSI will not apply to the TWSS subsidy and will be reduced from 11.05% to 0.5% on the additional ‘top-up’ payment from the employer (including payments under my Department’s TWSCS). As a result, under the combined TWSS and TWSCS, PRSI costs are eliminated for the employee and reduced considerably for the employer.

It is not possible for my Department to cover any tax liabilities (such as income tax or USC) that may arise under the top-up being provided by the TWSCS. As is normally the case, it is a matter for the employer to deduct and remit income taxes to Revenue under the PAYE system in respect of the top-up portion of the scheme and ultimately for the employee to discharge their tax liabilities.

3.420 (Anne Rabbitte) To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to clarify the number of childcare providers who have signed up to her Department’s Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme, broken down by service type (full-time, sessional etc) and county if possible.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented situation that has required a series of emergency responses from the Government. I launched the Temporary Wage Subsidy Childcare Scheme (TWSCS) on 15 April. This scheme is a very significant measure to support the sector and reflects the particular impact the pandemic has had on early education and childcare providers. I can confirm that as of 29 April, 3,684 childcare provider have signed up to participate in the TWSCS 1,029 of these are community services and 2,655 are private services. The breakdown by service type is outlined below. These figures were compiled using information from the 2018/2019 Annual Early Years Sector Profile Report by Pobal. It should also be noted that the figures for each service type below in the county list includes services that may provide multiple service types. For example, the figure for full time services will include services that also offer part time or sessional care.

Number of Services by Organisation Type Organisation Type Number of Services Community 1,029 Private 2,655 Total 3,684

Number of Services by County and Service Type Number of Number of Number of County Services - Full Services - Part Services - Time Care Time Care Sessional Care Carlow 16 17 38 Cavan 17 22 36 Clare 34 37 91 Cork 72 97 292 Donegal 34 40 75 Dublin 301 313 556 Galway 67 80 154 Kerry 37 47 93 Kildare 56 59 146 Kilkenny 33 35 69 Laois 15 15 43 Leitrim 11 12 27 Limerick 40 42 111 Longford 11 16 26 Louth 32 39 82 Mayo 17 19 77 Meath 33 32 131 Monaghan 32 39 49 Offaly 14 15 46 Roscommon 19 26 42 Sligo 27 26 49 Tipperary 42 52 119 Waterford 25 28 67 Westmeath 23 33 57 Wexford 32 43 78 Wicklow 16 29 104 Total 1,056 1,213 2,658

4.205 Mary Lou McDonald To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to clarify if Tusla social workers can facilitate video meeting between birth parents and their children who are in care whose face to face visitation agreements cannot take place due to the current public health movement restrictions. I am conscious that disruption to family contact, also referred to as access, can be a source of considerable anxiety and distress for children in care and their families. I wish to assure the Deputy that the importance of maintaining contact and family relationships (where it is in the child’s best interest) is paramount in the decision making of Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, at all times. Tusla is using a range of creative methods to support families in having contact with children. Social workers have access to Microsoft Teams to facilitate video-based access, and can also support direct video calls through platforms such as FaceTime and Skype. Foster carers and residential staff have been asked to facilitate more frequent digital contact for children where possible. Tusla have also clarified that, if the parent or parents do not have a phone or capability to video conference, social workers will work with the parents to identify alternative solutions. There may be some situations where social workers determine that a physical access visit should occur. For example very young children may not be capable of coping or meaningfully engaging with video calls. All planned access is subject to a risk assessment, on a case by case basis. Where visits are postponed, I have been informed by Tusla that every effort will be made to reschedule as soon as it is safe and practicable to do so. My officials continue to engage with the relevant stakeholders in relation to the impact of current restrictions on children and families. I wish to advise the Deputy that I have requested that, in the context of lifting restrictions, and when the HSE has reached capacity both in terms of testing and getting the lab results, that parents resuming access visits with their children be prioritised for testing. Testing would not be a pre-requisite for resumed access visits, but could be undertaken on a priority basis in recognition of concerns for foster families and birth families of the need to protect themselves from contracting COVID 19. 4.207 (Maurice Quinlivan/ Kathleen Funchion) To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if people, who were availing of the ECCE childcare scheme this year, will be entitled to an additional ECCE place for their child next year, if they feel their child is not ready for primary school now as a result of the closure of pre-schools due to COVID-19; and will she make a statement on the matter? The Deputies are aware that the COVID-19 Pandemic has created major challenges for Ireland. The sudden closure of centre-based Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) services on 12th March was an unexpected but necessary move to safeguard public health in Ireland. I am acutely aware of the particular impact the pandemic and the emergency measures have had on children. The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme is a free two year universal pre-school programme available to all children within the eligible age range. A child must be aged 2 years and 8 months on or before 31 August in order to be eligible and can’t turn 5 years and 6 months during the programme year. There is no provision for a third year. For some children with special or additional needs, where attending preschool five days a week is not feasible, there is a facility to apply for an overage exemption. This overage exemption allows them split two years over three years. It was initially introduced when there was only one year of ECCE and before the Access and Inclusion Model was introduced to ECCE, providing a range of supports to children with disabilities and the pre-school. The overage exemption is governed by three guiding principles as follows:

 The child not reaching 6 years of age during the exemption year to comply with the school staring age (as per Educational Welfare Act, 2000)

 A Letter of recommendation supplied from a specialist (NB: Not a GP/Public Health Nurse)

 ECCE Allocation taken-i.e. if a child has already availed of two years they will not be eligible.

The DCYA works jointly with the Department of Education and Skills (DES) with regards to matters such as this. The DES endorses the policy approach that it is in children's best interest to enrol in primary school with their peers, and to transition to becoming a teenager with their peers. This was the finding of research commissioned jointly by both Departments in 2018 from the National Disability Authority (NDA) which was published in March 2019.

Parents who have concerns over their child’s transition to school should, in the first instance, discuss this with the school. They may also contact the National Council for Special Education for advice on available supports for their child.

4.208 (Kathleen Funchion) To ask Minister for Children and Youth Affairs how much has been spent on the Covid Early Years Measures in her Department. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented situation that has required a series of emergency responses from the Government. The closure of childcare services by Government on March 12 caused considerable anxiety and stress regarding the potential loss of income and future sustainability. To alleviate this, I directed that programme payments for ECCE (free pre-school), the National Childcare Scheme and other funding schemes continue on an ex-gratia basis until the DCYA Temporary Wage Subsidy Childcare Scheme (TWSCS) was up and running. Payments over that initial period totalled c. €21.1m. On 10 April, I announced that 33% of Programme Support Payments scheduled to issue in June and totalling c. €6.4m, would be paid to the sector on17 April. This advance payment was to reflect the ongoing exceptional circumstances and assist with cash flow requirements due to COVID-19. The Deputy will be aware that I launched the Temporary Wage Subsidy Childcare Scheme (TWSCS) on 15 April - this followed from my commitment on 25 March regarding the development of this scheme. The TWSCS builds on the wider provisions by Government and also recognises the unique place and importance of the early education and childcare sector. A pre-payment totalling €13.6m was made under the TWSCS on 24 April, to any providers who had signed up by 21 April. It is anticipated that a second pre-payment totalling €18m will be made in the week-ending 1 May.

4.750 (Aengus Ó’Snodaigh) To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the estimated cost for a four week period of the measures introduced to support the childcare sector, namely the wage bill including the portion covered by the TWSS and the top- up by her department and the provision of assistance for operating costs, and to provide for the purposes of comparison, the total expenditure by way of direct supports to this sector in a four week period prior to the pandemic.

Initial projections anticipated that that the DCYA Temporary Wage Subsidy Childcare Scheme (TWSCS) will cost on average c. €26m over a 4 week period, although this will be subject to the level of scheme demand. As of 29 April, 3,655 providers have signed up to the TWSCS. There are natural variations in the level of funding that my Department disburses each month. These variations occur in line with the timing of spending commitments, such as payment dates on the demand-led Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) services programmes. It is therefore not possible to identify a fully representative 4 week section of actual payments under these programmes for the purposes of a comparison against the TWSCS. An estimated overall average cost of the beneficiary programmes over a monthly period, based on an apportionment of the allocated funding, is €41m. The DCYA TWSCS builds on the wider provisions by Government, including the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme operated by Revenue. The monthly cost of the TWSCS therefore does not represent the full level of financial support to participant providers. However, it is important to note that the total cost to the State is higher than the total expenditure by way of direct supports to this sector in a four-week period prior to the pandemic. Parents previously contributed approximately 40% of the sector’s income and the State 60%. The new Government wide package of measures for the sector across DCYA, Revenue and DEASP retain the State investment that was there previously and compensates for the loss of some of the parental income. The objective is to ensure that we retain as much capacity as possible in the sector so that early education and childcare services can resume after COVID-19 and support child development and economic recovery.

4.204 (Réada Cronin) To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs what adequate resources are being put in place by her Department to support the childcare sector during Covid-19 and if a sustainability fund will be put in place for all Early Years services following the regrettable closure of at least two preschool ECCE providers in Kildare North?

 to support the sustainability of the ELC and SAC sector so that it is in a position to reopen after COVID-19;  to provide parents with a reassurance that if their ELC and SAC provider signs up to the scheme, they are not required to pay fees during this COVID-19 crisis, and they will maintain their ELC / SAC place when services resume and  to give Early Learning and Care practitioners security and to retain these vital Educators in the sector. I am pleased to inform you that by 28 April, 80% of ELC and SAC services had signed up to the scheme and more are expected to do so. Services which had registered by 21 April received their first payment on 24 April.

With regard to the establishment of a sustainability fund for the childcare sector, there are number of sustainability supports currently available to childcare providers. Expert advice on business and sustainability issues is available from Pobal and City/County Childcare Committees for all services, whether community based or private operators. Financial supports are available for community services presenting with sustainability issues following a financial assessment by Pobal. My Department has begun to consider whether this sustainability funding can be extended to private services during the pandemic. However, I hope the Deputy can appreciate that our immediate priority is the roll out the TWSCS which is itself a significant sustainability measure. My Department has made considerable investment in the sector in recent years. I want to preserve the fruits of this investment for children, families and our much valued ELC and SAC workforce and ensure that, when COVID- 19 has passed, we will have retained as many services, staff and places as possible.

With regard to the closure of services in Kildare North, this has indeed been brought to my attention. I was very sorry to hear of this. I understand from our colleagues in Pobal that Kildare County Childcare Committee has sought to engage with the owner of one of the services in order to provide support for parents affected by the closure. My officials will continue to liaise with Pobal and Kildare CCC to keep abreast of the latest position regarding both services. If there is any possibility of either of the service providers reopening, I would urge them to make contact with Pobal or Kildare CCC to seek available assistance

Every year a number of services close, but over the last 5 years they have been replaced and indeed capacity has grown at a steady pace. COVID-19 however has presented us with major challenges and this is why DCYA worked hard to develop the TWSCS. DCYA will continue to work with the sector to try to maintain as much capacity as is possible in these very difficult circumstances.

4.752 (Kathleen Funchion) To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if a sustainability fund will be considered by the Minister for the early years sector to help facilities re open as many feel they will have to close due to funding issues

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented situation that has required a series of emergency responses from the Government. I am acutely aware of the particular impact the pandemic and the emergency measures have had on Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) providers. I am also very conscious of the importance of the ELC and SAC sector, particularly in the context of the current conditions and with a view to supporting the economy as we move beyond this crisis. The Deputy will be aware that the Temporary Wage Subsidy Childcare Scheme (TWSCS) was developed to respond to sustainability issues in the sector. This scheme builds on top of other Government supports available through Revenue, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, and elsewhere. The scheme is expected to cost DCYA up to €6m per week, in addition to the Revenue and other costs. A number of supports were available before COVID to improve the sustainability of services during normal times, and these remain available now. Financial supports are available for community services presenting with sustainability issues following a financial assessment by Pobal. My Department has begun to consider whether this sustainability funding can be extended to private services during the pandemic. My Department has made considerable investment in the sector in recent years. I want to preserve the fruits of this investment for children, families and our much valued ELC and SAC workforce and ensure that, when COVID- 19 has passed, we will have retained as many services, staff and places as possible. 4.520 (Deputy Sean Sherlock) To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs will the registration process for childcare facilities in areas which have now seen closures be expedited post COVID19. I have consulted with Tusla to respond to this question Tusla is aware of, and appreciates the difficulties faced by many childcare providers as a result of the Government’s public health restrictions which have been introduced in response to the on-going Covid-19 outbreak. As the Deputy is aware, these restrictions mean that all registered early years services have been temporarily closed until at least 5th May 2020. On this basis Tusla has suspended its programme of inspections. This includes fit for purposes inspections, which take place as part of the registration process, to assess the suitability of a premises to provide early years services. Despite this difficult situation, data received by Tusla’s Early Years Inspectorate has shown that there have been relatively few permanent closures of early years services – to date – as a result of the ongoing restrictions. The Inspectorate however continues to keep this situation under review. Subject to the resuming of inspections (including fit for purpose inspections) in line with Government public health advice, the Early Years Inspectorate will of course endeavour to expedite the processing of fully completed registration applications, in line with the necessary regulatory requirements. In the interim, the Inspectorate team remains available to support registered providers during this unprecedented situation, and they can be contacted either by telephone on 061 461715 or by email at [email protected].

4.751 (Brian Stanley) To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs what steps are being provided for childcare services for those workers classified as 'essential'. In particular, what support is being provided to essential workers with children that have special needs The Deputy is aware that the COVID-19 Pandemic has created major challenges for Ireland. The sudden closure of centre-based Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) services on 12th March was an unexpected but necessary move to safeguard public health in Ireland. Some childminders continue to be allowed to operate where they care for the children of essential workers and where they follow HSE advice. NPHET considered a proposal from a sub-group of the Senior Officials’ group on the matter of developing an emergency childcare service and concluded that it will be reviewed as a candidate measure in the context of any phased reduction in social distancing measures.

DCYA supports this approach, and officials are finalising details of such a scheme, which will be implemented as public health guidance allows. I can also assure the Deputy that any scheme delivered will be child centred and designed to meet the needs of all children and families, including those with special needs.

The Deputy may also be aware of another measure recently announced to support spouses / partners of essential healthcare workers to be facilitated by their employer to look after their children and to support the essential worker to continue to work.

4.753 (Matt Carthy T.D) To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will introduce mechanisms for essential workers to avail of childcare facilities. The Deputy is aware that the COVID-19 Pandemic has created major challenges for Ireland. The sudden closure of centre-based Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) services on 12th March was an unexpected but necessary move to safeguard public health in Ireland. Some childminders continue to be allowed to operate where they care for the children of essential workers and where they follow HSE advice. NPHET considered a proposal from a sub-group of the Senior Officials’ group on the matter of developing an emergency childcare service and concluded that it will be reviewed as a candidate measure in the context of any phased reduction in social distancing measures.

DCYA supports this approach, and officials are finalising details of such a scheme, which will be implemented as public health guidance allows.

4.203, 4.241, 4.297 (Sean Crowe) To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs what new arrangements are being made for front-line workers for childcare provision so that they may continue working and when will they be implemented The Deputy is aware that the COVID-19 Pandemic has created major challenges for Ireland. The sudden closure of centre-based Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) services on 12th March was an unexpected but necessary move to safeguard public health in Ireland. Some childminders continue to be allowed to operate where they care for the children of essential workers and where they follow HSE advice. NPHET considered a proposal from a sub-group of the Senior Officials’ group on the matter of developing an emergency childcare service and concluded that it will be reviewed as a candidate measure in the context of any phased reduction in social distancing measures.

DCYA supports this approach, and officials are finalising details of such a scheme, which will be implemented as public health guidance allows.