Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 282 and 284 together.

There are two types of subsidies available under the National Childcare Scheme (or the Affordable Childcare Scheme):

- Currently, universal subsidies are available to all families with children under 3 years old. They are also available to families with children over 3 years who have not yet qualified for the free preschool programme (ECCE). This subsidy is not means tested and provides 50c per hour towards the cost of a registered childcare place for a maximum of 45 hours per week.

- Income Assessed Subsidies are available to families with children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years. This subsidy is means tested and will be calculated based on your individual circumstances. The rate will vary depending on family income, child’s age and educational stage, and the number of children in the family. The maximum available income assessed subsidy dependent on the aforementioned conditions is €5.10 per hour or a maximum weekly subsidy of €229.50.

Budget 2022 announced a number of changes to the NCS which will be rolled out this year. The first change removes the practice of deducting hours spent in pre-school or school from the entitlement to NCS subsidised hours, benefiting an estimated 5,000 children from low income families. This came into effect on 2 May 2022. The second change will extend the NCS universal subsidy to all children under 15 from September 2022, benefiting up to 40,000 children. Full year estimates of these changes have been factored into the costs below but the impact of these changes will not be fully known until Q4 2022.

The estimated costs based on the scenarios presented are derived from current levels of usage and expenditure adjusted for the Budget 22 changes. These individual estimates are based on no behavioural change and should be interpreted with caution. It should be noted that changes to subsidies may result in changes to patterns and levels of usage by families. These changes are likely to be more pronounced at higher rates of increase.

Based on the above, the following are the estimated costs and estimated children affected , assuming that the minimum targeted subsidy is increased so as never to be below the universal subsidy:

- 50 cent - €60 million – 37,200 children

- €1 - €102 million – 43,500 children

- €1.50 - €164 million – 50,600 children

- €2 - €212 million (equates to €100 per week at 40 hours per week*)– 58,300 children

- €2.50 - €261 million – 66,700 children

- €3 - €314 million – 76,200 children

- €3.50 - €402 million – 101,700 children

- €4 - €466 million – 116,500 children

- €4.50 - €526 million – 119,300 children

- €5 - €586 million – 119,900 children

*It is assumed that the €20 per week referenced by the Deputy is for an individual using 40 hours universal at .50 per hour. As such, a €100 value for the same individual would be 40 hours at €2.50, thereby increasing the hourly universal subsidy by €2

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The 2022 allocated budget for the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) is €45.55 million.

This funding covers the cost of the seven levels of AIM, which encompass a range of both universal and targeted supports for pre-school settings. This funding provides a programme of capital grants for specialised equipment, appliances, assistive technology and/or minor alterations for pre-school settings to ensure children with a disability can participate in the ECCE programme. It is also intended to facilitate either the recruitment of additional staff or to compensate services for a reduction in the adult-to-child ratio in the pre-school room, supporting the meaningful participation of all children in the room in the ECCE universal pre-school programme. 

It provides access to therapeutic services where they are critical to enable a child to be enrolled and to meaningfully participate in the ECCE programme, and access to expert early year’s educational advice and support from a team of dedicated Early Years Specialists.

It also provides for continued development of a qualified and confident workforce through the provision of ongoing training courses such as Hanen and SPEL and provision of funding for training under the Leadership for Inclusion (LINC) training programme and employment of Inclusion Co-Ordinator (INCO) positions in ECCE sessions.

A 15% increase in funding for the overall Access and Inclusion Model would cost an additional €6.83 million per annum.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The National Childminding Initiative, which began in 2002, contained a number of strands to support childminders. One of the strands was the appointment of Childminding Advisory Officers, some of whom were employed by the HSE and some by City and County Childcare Committees. Their roles included offering information, support and training to childminders; maintaining the voluntary notification system; and administering other supports for childminders. The Childminding Advisory Officer posts were largely discontinued in 2012-2013 in the context of widespread budget cuts at that time. 

In 2019 the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth put in place a National Childminding Coordinator, who is located within the Department, along with 6 Childminding Development Officers, who are located within City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs) around the country and who have a regional remit. As part of the implementation of Phase 1 of the National Action Plan for Childminding, Budget 2022 enabled the recruitment of an additional 6 Childminding Development Officer posts within the CCCs as well as a national CCC Childminding Lead whose work includes overseeing and coordinating the team of 12 Childminding Development Officers. As the Childminding Development Officers work on a regional basis in collaboration with the CCCs in each region, the team of Childminding Development Officers provides full national coverage.  

In line with commitments in the National Action Plan for Childminding, the role of the Childminding Development Officers is to prepare the childminding sector for the move towards wider regulation and  support, while also in the immediate term supporting childminders who are subject to the current regulations but are not yet registered with Tusla to meet Tusla registration requirements, thus enabling more childminders to take part in the National Childcare Scheme and other State supports.

The full-year cost of the 12 Childminding Development Officer posts that are now in place is €843,000 per annum, which includes costs for salaries, PRSI, travel and subsistence and overheads.