Thomas Gould
Question:547. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for an update on the funding proposal by NCE for a facility (details supplied) in Churchfield, Cork. [41236/24]
View answerChildcare Services
Questions (547)
Written answers
I am aware of the issues facing Northside Community Enterprises (NCE) and of the funding that they require to support the re-opening of the Before 5 Family Centre in Churchfield, Co. Cork.
The Before 5 Family Centre is in an area of under supply and of high need, so the ambition of NCE to reopen this Centre, with an extended offer of full time, full year places for children under three as well as places for school-going children, is very welcome.
Having met with NCE representatives in Cork, I clarified that the capital funding I announced for the early learning and childcare sector earlier this year under the National Development Plan, funds the expansion of existing services and does not apply to the scenario that NCE finds itself in with the Before 5 Family Centre.
However, I did confirm that I am working within my Department to look at what solutions can be found to support NCE with reopening this vital service for the Churchfield community. Following engagement by Pobal and the local Childcare Committee with NCE on the matter, I am pleased to advise the Deputy that a solution has been identified and Pobal are currently working on the final details of this with the service.
Disability Services
Questions (548)
Robert Troy
Question:548. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will ensure additional home help hours are provided for a person (details supplied). [41269/24]
View answerWritten answers
As this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Direct Provision System
Questions (549)
Bríd Smith
Question:549. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when he will implement the Government’s commitment to introducing an international protection child payment to children living in direct provision; to outline a timeframe for when this will happen; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41299/24]
View answerWritten answers
In Budget 2025, I have secured €8.4m for the International Protection Child Payment. Once introduced, the Child Payment will be a weekly payment of €32.31 to be paid in respect of each eligible child. The Child Payment is a key component of this budget’s focus on tackling child poverty in line with this Government’s ambition to eradicate child poverty.
The Child Payment will support families in the International Protection system, help reduce the high rates of poverty experienced by this group, promote social inclusion, and facilitate improved integration.
The introduction of an International Protection Child Payment was a key commitment in A White Paper to End Direct Provision and to establish a New International Protection Support Service and remains a commitment in the Comprehensive Accommodation Strategy for International Protection Applicants.
Disability Services
Questions (550)
Róisín Shortall
Question:550. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of persons on a waiting list for speech and language therapy by CHO, age category and time waiting, in tabular form. [41310/24]
View answerWritten answers
As this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Disabilities Assessments
Questions (551)
Róisín Shortall
Question:551. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of children and young persons on waiting lists for an assessment of need, by CHO, age category and time waiting, in tabular form. [41313/24]
View answerWritten answers
As this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Disability Services
Questions (552)
Róisín Shortall
Question:552. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of persons on a waiting list for initial contact from a CDNT, by CHO, age category and time waiting, in tabular form. [41320/24]
View answerWritten answers
As this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Departmental Correspondence
Questions (553)
James O'Connor
Question:553. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will address matters raised in correspondence (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41342/24]
View answerWritten answers
The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme is available to all children within the eligible age range. A child must have reached 2 years and 8 months of age on or prior to 31 August of the relevant programme year to be eligible for the 1st of September start date.
The minimum eligibility age for the ECCE programme was revised in September 2018 when it was reduced from 3 years to 2 years and 8 months. The revised minimum of 2 years and 8 months was chosen based on national experience and a review of international practice.
I accept that the use of age limits in a scheme such as ECCE creates a situation whereby a child can fall just outside the age range, however, my Department have to place an age cut-off at a particular point, and in the interests of fairness and consistency there can be no discretion in this regard.
I appointed Stranmillis University College, Belfast, to undertake an independent review of the ECCE programme. The review was designed to assess whether the ECCE programme is meeting its core objectives and to identify any opportunities for enhancements that can be made to the programme.
The review is now complete and will be published shortly. I am considering the findings from the review and any policy changes that may need to be made to the ECCE programme.
The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides financial support to help families with their early learning and childcare costs. Both Universal and Income assessed subsidies are available for children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years of age. For more information including how to apply, parents should visit www.ncs.gov.ie.
Rights of People with Disabilities
Questions (554, 555)
Marc MacSharry
Question:554. Deputy Marc MacSharry asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the current situation of the European Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882); the nature of the work across Government to ensure effective implementation of this directive; the guidance that is being issued by his Department to organisations and businesses in advance of the enactment of the directive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41364/24]
View answerMarc MacSharry
Question:555. Deputy Marc MacSharry asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if the EU Commission has finished its assessment of Statutory Instrument No. 636/2023 - European Union (Accessibility Requirements of Products and Services) Regulations 2023 to transpose the European Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882) for accuracy and completeness; the timeline for the outcome of that assessment; if the June 2025 deadline for companies to be compliant with this regulation will be extended in light of this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41365/24]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 554 and 555 together.
The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is an important EU Directive that will introduce, for the first time, mandatory minimum accessibility requirements for certain products and services across the European Union. The Directive covers a range of commonly used products and services that are important for daily life. It seeks a universal design or ‘design for all’ approach to accessibility, which means ensuring access to products and services for persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others by design.
The deadline for material implementation of the Directive across all Member States is 28 June 2025. This deadline is set by the Directive itself and as such cannot be extended at national level.
Along with a number of other Member States, Ireland received a reasoned opinion in relation to the European Accessibility Act in July of 2023 while focused efforts were underway in my Department to transpose this complex and broad Directive. Ireland transposed the EAA into Irish law via Statutory Instrument (S.I 636/2023) on 12 December 2023 and notified the European Commission of same. Ireland is currently awaiting a final assessment from the Commission on this transposing instrument, as I understand a number of other Member States also are.
In line with the Government's mainstream first approach to disability matters - which itself flows from the ethos of the UNCRPD - under the transposing Regulations six agencies have been assigned oversight and enforcement functions for products and services based on their existing regulatory responsibilities:
• the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission;
• the Commission for Communications Regulation;
• the National Transport Authority;
• the Irish Aviation Authority;
• the Central Bank of Ireland, and
• Coimisiún na Meán.
Each of these respective agencies will provide guidance and support to the relevant businesses and organisations within their sector.
The National Disability Authority (NDA), through its Centre for Excellence in Universal Design, continues to provide advice and guidance on the accessibility requirements found in Schedule 1 of the EAA. The NDA is currently engaging with the regulatory agencies tasked with market surveillance and compliance responsibilities under the Act. Furthermore, the NDA is continuing its involvement with the significant work on inputting to the Universal Design Standards Consultative Committee (UDSCC) as part of the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) on the development and revision of six EU standards and 2 technical reports relating to public procurement that will become the harmonised standards which will underpin the EAA. Along with the text of the Directive and transposing Regulations, these Standards and technical reports will form the basis for determining conformance with the Act.
Anticipating the June 2025 deadline, an interdepartmental group of the relevant Departments and Agencies has been established. My Department will be working closely with colleagues across government to ensure effective implementation of this important Directive by the implementation deadline.
Question No. 555 answered with Question No. 554.
Departmental Funding
Questions (556)
Seán Sherlock
Question:556. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will provide information on resource allocation by his Department for the implementation of the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy II. [41406/24]
View answerWritten answers
I am pleased to inform the Deputy that I secured an increase of 6% in the provision for Traveller and Roma initiatives in the recent Budget, which will bring total spending to €6.5 million in 2025 for my Department. This increased allocation will be used to deliver relevant actions under the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy II (NTRIS II) Action Plan 2024 - 2026, including supporting local and national organisations and programmes in the areas of employment, social inclusion, education, counselling and mediation services. Some of the additional funding will address cost of living pressures faced by the different organisations while resources will also be made available for new actions under the NTRIS II Action Plan 2024 – 2026, especially in the priority area of supporting Traveller and Roma employment.
I would anticipate that further funding to support Traveller and Roma projects will be provided under the Government’s Dormant Accounts Fund Action Plan for 2025, which I expect will be announced shortly. Under the current Action Plan, my Department is being provided with a total of €2.2 million to advance Traveller and/or Roma community initiatives in 2024.
It is important to note that funding to address the specific needs of the Traveller and Roma communities is allocated across a range of Government Departments and State Agencies in accordance with their respective areas of responsibility (e.g. Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in relation to accommodation; Department of Health in relation to health; etc). In their funding decisions, Departments and Agencies will take into account the actions that they have committed to implement under the NTRIS II Action Plan 2024 – 2026.
Finally, I should advise the Deputy that an improved staffing resource has been put in place within my Department’s Traveller and Roma policy team to help drive the implementation of NTRIS II initiatives that come within the responsibility of my Department.
Disability Services
Questions (557)
Bernard Durkan
Question:557. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when vital supports via the CDNT Kildare will be provided for the child of a person (details supplied) who requires this support as early as possible; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41525/24]
View answerWritten answers
As this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Early Childhood Care and Education
Questions (558)
Ivana Bacik
Question:558. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if increased ECCE hours constitute a new service under the core funding scheme; and the method of calculating what is a proportionate fee increase for services that have not increased fees in the past decade. [41534/24]
View answerWritten answers
Core Funding Partner Services may create a new Service Type and agree that the fee for any new Service Type will be calculated as not more than a proportion of the closest equivalent fee extant on September 30th 2021 which, all other things being equal, would apply to the eligible child. The proportion of the fee cannot exceed the relative proportion of the Service Type.
Where a Partner Service increases the level of service offered, a higher fee can be charged for this, but the higher fee must be in direct proportion to the increase. For example, for an increase in full-day care from 40 hours/week to 50 hours/week represents an increase of 25%, a higher fee can be charged for this, but it cannot exceed an increase of 25% of the previous fee that was charged to parents/guardians as of 30 September 2021.
Where the amount of service offered is decreased, the fee charged must also decrease by at least the same proportion.
Under ECCE rules, an Approved Provider who provides a sessional-only service and does not offer any other category of service (part-time, full-time, etc.) may offer an option of a maximum additional 30 minutes per day. The 30 minutes must be listed as an optional extra on the fees list.
Under Core Funding, sessional-only services which have been offering ECCE only, and which wish to increase provision and introduce a fee for the additional 30 minutes can do so provided they follow these rules:
• Those that declared nothing in the “fee excluding ECCE” column in their approved ECCE Fee Policy can charge up to a proportion of the standard rate but not in excess (i.e. €11.50 per week for the additional 30 minutes per day, as a proportion of the standard capitation rate of €69).
• Those that declared a “fee excluding ECCE” lower than standard capitation rate can charge up to the standard rate but not in excess.
• Those that declared “fee excluding ECCE” the same as the standard capitation rate can charge up to the standard rate but not in excess.
• Those that declared a higher “fee excluding ECCE” than the standard capitation rate can charge a proportion of that rate.
Sessional services offering only ECCE have been operating with a fee charged to parents of €0, as the fee is covered by the ECCE subsidy. Therefore, when these services become part-time or full-time services, they may introduce a new hourly fee to parents in line with the following rules which follow the same logic as the above:
Those that declared nothing in the “fee excluding ECCE” column in their approved ECCE Fee List/Table can may introduce a new hourly fee to parents up to the hourly ECCE standard capitation rate of €4.60 (which is the standard capitation rate divided by the number of weekly ECCE hours). This will ensure that the weekly fee is in proportion to the increase in hours from sessional care. (Where ECCE continues to be offered to eligible children as a component of part-time or full-time care, the ECCE capitation rate should then be deducted from this fee for children availing of ECCE, in accordance with the ECCE rules).
Those that declared a “fee excluding ECCE” lower than standard capitation rate can charge up to a proportion of the standard rate but not in excess.
Those that declared “fee excluding ECCE” the same as the standard capitation rate can charge up to a proportion of the standard rate but not in excess.
Those that declared a higher “fee excluding ECCE” than the standard capitation rate can charge a proportion of that rate.
There are also developments to the fee management system.
Up to now, services availing of Core Funding have not been allowed to raise their fees above what was charged to parents on 30 September 2021 (or at the point of first signing up for Core Funding if the service did not exist on 30 September 2021).
The fee freeze will remain in place for the majority of these services for year 3 of Core Funding, though there are two new developments:
Services whose fees have been frozen at a level that may not be sufficient to sustain their business even with increased funding available through Core Funding, will have the opportunity to apply for a Fee Increase Assessment. Only services currently charging low fees (fees below the average in their county) will be eligible to apply and the onus will be on the provider to demonstrate a need for a fee increase. Any approved fee increases will not go above the increased universal NCS subsidy that a parent would be receiving for the full hours offered within the fee. This means that parents receiving the universal NCS subsidy for the full hours offered in these services will not face higher costs.
A cap on fees is being introduced for services joining Core Funding for the first time in the third year. A fee cap will apply to all services in Core Funding from September 2025. This change will improve affordability for parents, as very high fees will be reduced.
Disability Services
Questions (559)
Michael Ring
Question:559. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when services (details supplied) will be made available by the HSE to a child; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41584/24]
View answerWritten answers
As this question refers to service/operational matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Disability Services
Questions (560)
Michael Ring
Question:560. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if a service (details supplied) could be provided to working parents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41585/24]
View answerWritten answers
As this question refers to service/operational matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.