Community Childcare supports extended
“Year-round registration for centres caring for 25,000 children and special
purpose fund introduced”
Statement by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Dr Katherine
Zappone
Children, parents and community childcare services are to receive extra
support with immediate effect, according to the Minister for Children and
Youth Affairs, Dr Katherine Zappone.
The Minister has announced that:
· Community services are to be allowed register children for the CSS
(Community Childcare Subvention Programme) on a year-round basis for
the first time ever
· €1m is being made available to community childcare services who have
been facilitating the placement of Community Employment (CE) scheme
workers, to ensure these services are supported to meet the minimum
qualification requirements under the childcare quality regulations
Minister Zappone says these announcements will open up new opportunities
for parents seeking work and ensure that their children are being cared for
by properly trained staff.
Making the announcement the Children’s Minister said:
“The 820 community childcare providers receiving support from my Department
are in the frontline of efforts to end poverty.
Their services not only benefit the development of children but also open
up opportunities for parents to seek education, training and work.
Year-round registration will ensure that parents accepting offers of work
should have easier access to subsidised childcare – and not face a delay.
However the practice of limiting the registration period for children to
access these services was a barrier. By removing this and allowing
year-round registration we are creating new opportunities.
In addition I have become keenly aware that new qualification requirements
for staff in the community settings were causing problems – as they can no
longer rely on people in Community Employment Schemes as part of core staff
ratios required by regulations.
As Minister my first consideration must be the safety of children – that
will never change.
However in response to concerns of parents and centres and in preparation
for the implementation of the childcare regulations, my Department invited
all community services through Childcare Committees Ireland to participate
in an exercise to determine the impact of the new regulations on their
services.
This exercise has now concluded and indicates that the vast majority of
community services are not negatively impacted. For those services who
had come to rely on CE worker, I am providing up to €1m on a once-off basis
to support them during this transitional stage.
2017 will be the year when we will finally start making childcare equal and
fair – these announcements are another step towards that goal.”
ENDS//
NOTE TO EDITORS
The Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) Programme
· The Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) Programme provides funding
to childcare services to enable them to provide quality childcare at
reduced rates to disadvantaged and low income working parents.
· Parents qualify as disadvantaged or low income on the basis of
means-tested entitlements. In the case of full day care, parents
qualifying for the higher rate of subvention under the CCS Programme
can have up to €95 per week deducted from the overall charge for
childcare in the participating childcare facility.
· The CCS programme is available through participating community
not-for-profit childcare services and, since 2016, private childcare
providers.
· Approximately 20,500 children were catered for under the CCS
Programme in 2016 in up to 820 community childcare services. Another
2,800 children were catered for under the CCS Private Programme
(CCSP) in 2016 in over 470 private childcare services.
· The CCS Programme had an overall budget of €61 million in 2016.