Written Answers Nos. 1-20
7. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the steps that have been taken to address the shortage of additional need services at a school (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30143/24]
View answerThe issues raised by the Deputy do not fall under the remit of my Department or the HSE provided service under its remit, which is the Children’s Disability Network Teams (CDNTs). The question pertains to a range of services beyond HSE provisioned therapy services. These include including music, literacy and numeracy, and counselling supports. The question also relates to support provisioned to the individual school on the basis of DEIS status.
CDNTs have been established to provide supports such as occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech and language therapy for all children with complex disability needs within a defined geographic area. In recent months, the Government has prioritised the reinstatement of health and social care supports in selected special schools as part of the special school’s pilot for enhanced in-school therapy supports.
CDNTs do not provide health and social care supports in mainstream schools such as Le Chéíle National School.
I am advised that Primary Care Therapy services, under the remit of the Department of Health, including children’s therapy services, are mainly delivered in the community based on assessed clinical need following a referral to the service. In some cases, HSE Primary Care staff can provide in-school supports such as Speech & Language Therapist support to Special Language classes which I understand to be the case in this location.
Finally, it should be noted that children do not require a diagnosis and/or a professional report or Assessment of Need to access education supports such as SET and SNA supports within a mainstream education setting. These resources should be put in place by the school where the school has identified additional education needs.
14. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if consideration will be given to raising the pay of early years educators by €1.50 per hour, as sought by a union (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38970/24]
View answerState investment in early learning and childcare has increased by 72% since the Programme for Government was published. The First 5 investment target set in 2018 was achieved in 2023 - five years early.
In 2025, State investment will be €1.37 billion.
The State is not the employer and therefore does not set the pay or conditions for employees in the sector
However, there is , through the Joint Labour Committee (JLC) process, a formal mechanism established by which employer and employee representatives can negotiate minimum pay rates, which are set down in Employment Regulation Orders (ERO). This is an independent process from the Department and neither I, nor my officials, have any role in the proceedings of the JLC and any associated negotiated minimum pay rates, the cost of which is borne by the employer.
Outputs from the JLC process has seen two increases in minimum rates of pay for roles in the sector and positively impacting over 70% and 50% of the workforce respectively.
Outcomes from the JLC process are supported by Government through Core Funding.
In Budget 2025, I secured an additional €15m specifically to support employers meet the costs of further increases to the minimum rates of pay. This allocation, which is conditional on ERO being negotiated by the JLC, translates into full year costs of €45 million for programme year 2025/2026.
On the basis of 2024 data supplied by Partner Services taking part in Core Funding , the estimated annual costs to employers of raising all the minimum pay rates specified in the current ERO by €1.50 per hour is approximately €69.1 million. This figure represents the additional cost to employers of bringing staff, from their current wage or the minimum pay rates set out in the current EROs, whichever is higher, up to the new pay rate set out in the Deputy's question.
15. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the cost of moving the entire childcare system into a public State model operated by the Department of Education, segmented by staff costs, capital costs and provider acquisition costs. [38911/24]
View answerMy Department has not undertaken a detailed analysis of the proposal outlined. However, I can provide some information on relevant issues for consideration.
My Department estimates that the annual wage bill for the sector is €1.041 billion. This includes employers' costs - such as PRSI & holiday pay - and wages for ancillary staff. The Independent Review of Costs commissioned by my Department estimates that payroll comprises 68% of a service's costs. Based on this, the total operating costs for the sector are estimated at €1.53 billion. This includes all staff and non-staff costs, including capital.
These figures are based on the present operation of the sector, including in respect of the number and type of places being delivered. In the event of any change of model as indicated by the question, the costing basis may also change.
In considering whether some element of public provision should be introduced, issues relating to staff employment, pay and conditions; ownership and management of buildings; operating models; governance arrangements; service offering; fees for parents; and the overall funding model will need to be examined. Decisions on each of these issues would materially influence the costing of any possible proposals.
In relation to capital, on average, the Review of Costs found that 12% of a services' annual costs are listed as premises costs. How this relates to capital costs will vary very significantly from service to service. For example, of the services who own their building, 42% stated that it was owned without a mortgage. Some mortgages are domestic, while others are commercial . Some services do not have formal leases. Therefore, capital costs will range from zero for some providers to a substantial portion of others' costs.
My Department has not undertaken any analysis of provider acquisition costs.
16. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if his Department will consider the provision of new clinical therapies such as kinesitherapy for children with autism and disabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38673/24]
View answerThe government are aware of the difficulties faced by the families of children with complex needs and is continuing to implement positive changes to help children access therapy and services.
Children’s disability services are provided based on the presenting needs of the child rather than by their diagnosis. These services are provided by 93 Children’s Disability Network Teams (CDNT) across the country.
The model of service for all CDNTs is family-centred and based on the needs of the child. This includes universal, targeted and specialised supports and interventions, as appropriate to the individual child and family. It is based on the objectives of empowering and supporting parents and others who are with the child on a daily basis to facilitate the child’s developmental needs
With regard to alternative therapy provision such as Kinesitherapy, consideration for additions to the scope of clinical therapies requires to be evidence informed in collaboration with key stakeholders and expertise as appropriate.
There are processes regarding regulation and registration across health and social care, to ensure best practice, which would need to be adhered to and this takes time to establish. The current therapies available are kept under review and the ones that are in train are available to view on the Coru website.
17. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of early learning and childcare facilities in the mid-Cork region that have withdrawn from Core funding this year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39145/24]
View answerThe Core Funding scheme administrator collects data in regions, which are connected to local City or County Childcare Committees. The two regions in Cork used are Cork City and Cork County.
For the current programme year, no services in either Cork City or Cork County have withdrawn from Core Funding and, as of 30 September, 95% of services in Cork City and 92% of services in Cork County have applied for the Scheme in year 3.
Currently 90% of services have signed up to Core Funding year 3. The number of applications received to date are similar to the number of applications received for the same time period for year 2 of the Scheme and applications for year 3 remain open.
While it is my ambition to have as high take-up as possible, a small proportion of early learning and childcare services – approximately 5% overall, 2% in Cork City and 4% in Cork County - chose not to join Core Funding last year.
It is a matter for providers to decide whether they wish to participate in Core Funding and benefit from the significant financial supports it offers to providers and the certainty it gives to parents through the associated fee freeze.
However, I am confident that given the 15% increase in Core Funding in year 3 and the associated supports, including the increase in the flat rate allocation for sessional services to €5,000, the increase in the minimum Core Funding allocation to €14,000 and the introduction of the Fee Increase Assessment Process, services should not need to take this step.
While a provider may chose not participate in Core Funding this year, they remain eligible in this programme year to provide the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) and the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme.
18. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the budgetary measures implemented since 2020 to support and improve services for adults with additional needs in CHO4; for an update on residential beds and assisted living placements in CHO4; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38881/24]
View answerI wish to thank the Deputy for raising this matter.
Budgetary Measures:
The HSE advises that Community Healthcare Organisation, CHO4, Cork Kerry Disability Services, received an increase of €61 million to the budget in the period 2020 to May 2024. This figure was allocated to both adult and children services.
Cork Kerry Disability Services provide services for over 13,000 people whose primary address is in Cork or Kerry.
The services provided include residential services, respite, personal assistant services, multidisciplinary therapy services and other community supports.
Disability Services in Cork and Kerry are delivered both directly, through the HSE, and indirectly, through the non-statutory Section 38 and 39 service providers, including not-for-profit and for-profit providers.
Residential Services:
Residential services make up the largest part of the Specialist Disability Services funding disbursed by the HSE, 58% of the total budget. Since 2020 to July this year, over 550 new residential places have been supported. This is in addition to those provided as part of the Tusla-HSE protocol and residential services provided to those moving from nursing homes.
As of July 2024, approximately 90 service providers provided 8578 residential places throughout the country.
To date in 2024, 38 full time residential placement have been allocated in CHO 4.
In line with the position generally, the number of applicants for residential placements in Cork and Kerry exceeds available capacity.
As a result, decision making on allocations is informed by the prioritisation of assessed clinical needs, the complexity of cases, and the support needs of applicants, as well as the existing residents and the funding available.
HSE advises that of those seeking residential services in Cork Kerry Community Healthcare, over 150 of these are high priority cases for whom residential places are required.
Of the 150 cases 20 have been identified as very high need with autism, intellectual disability and severe behavioural issues requiring very high support needs.
Assisted Living
In relation to Assisted Living placements, the planned delivery of 74,840 Personal Assistant hours (for assisted living) in the first half of 2024 has been exceeded by 23%, delivering 92,262 hours across Cork and Kerry in this period.
19. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the progress being made to ensure that every child who requires an assessment of needs has early access to same, given the importance of early intervention; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39170/24]
View answerBoth the Government and the HSE remain committed to the delivery of appropriate services for children with disabilities and will work with families and staff to develop services that meet their needs.
I acknowledge the delays in accessing Assessments of Need (AONs) and therapy interventions, directly related to vacancies across the Children’s Disability Network Teams (CDNTs). Work is ongoing by the HSE to maximise the capacity of CDNTs via recruitment campaigns and other measures, including through sourcing assessments through private providers.
Funding has been provided in recent years for specific measures to address AON backlogs: €16.5m in Budgets 2023 and 2024.
On 21st May 2024, the Government announced a decision to finance an AON waiting list initiative, through the procurement of private assessments for long waiting families. Targeted funding of €6.89m will allow the HSE to procure up to 2,500 additional AONs from private providers with delivery targeted over the next 3 months which will target those families waiting longest for AONs.
The HSE advise that under this targeted initiative, in the order of 1,100 AONs were commissioned from private providers/assessors during the months of June, July and August at a total cost of €3.57m. In the first half of the year, 1,841 AONs have been completed, which is a 28% increase on the same period last year. This increase is due, in part, to the new targeted waiting list initiative.
The roll-out of Regional Assessment Hubs sees the provision of personnel dedicated to the delivery of AON, while preserving the time of other clinical staff for the purposes of therapy interventions for children within the CDNT network.
I look forward to these measures, and others, being of benefit to children and families accessing therapeutic services nationwide.
20. Deputy Brian Leddin asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the most recent data on childcare closures and new openings; if he has data on expansions and on the number of new childcare spaces that have been created; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38749/24]
View answerAll Early Years services are required by law to register with Tusla. Registered providers are required to notify Tusla in writing of the closure of a service not later than 28 days after the closure. The register is updated monthly, in arrears, by Tusla.
In total, at the end of August 2024 there was a combined number of 5,043 preschool and stand-alone school-age childcare (SAC) services registered with Tusla.
Every year it is normal for some services to open and for some services to close.
The latest data on new service registrations and service closures, drawn from the Tusla register, at end August 2024 shows a five-year low in the number of net preschool service closures. There have been 12 net closures from January to August in 2024 compared to 38 net closures in 2023 in the same period last year.
The figures also show a five-year high in the number of preschool service openings. There have been 64 new services opened in the period from January to August 2024, compared to 48 in 2023, 33 in 2022, 44 in 2021, and 53 in 2020 for the same time period.
Overall, there has been a net increase of 161 in the overall number of preschool and school age childcare services year to date.
Data from Annual Early Years Sector Profile Survey showed that, between 2021/22 and 2022/23, the estimated number of enrolments in services rose by 8% from 197,210 to 213,154.
Administrative data from Core Funding Partner Services showed a similar increase in staffed capacity of services between May 2023 and Mat 2024. This increase is driven both by new services joining the sector and existing services offering more places and/or longer hours to families.
