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Written Answers Nos. 572-592Preschool Services 572. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (Deputy Frances Fitzgerald): In 2011, the ECCE programme cost approximately €163 million. Additional funding was made available for 2012 when the cost of the programme is expected to rise to €176 million to cater for changing demographics and provide for the increased number of children in the relevant age cohort. I am aware of the need to further develop the early childhood care and education sector. However, any development that involved further pre-school provision would require considerable additional funding and given the financial constraints under which the Government is currently operating it is not possible to provide for any enhancements to the programme at this time. I am also very conscious that work is continuing on improvement of quality within the pre-school year. All of the available evidence indicates that the quality of the provision is key to good outcomes for children. I would therefore hope to invest further in quality before expanding the programme. Future developments relating to early years care and education are being considered as part of the preparation of the National Early Years Strategy which is expected to be completed in the first half of 2013. Child Care Services Provision 573. Deputy Róisín Shortall Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (Deputy Frances Fitzgerald): Community childcare services participating in the CCS programme qualify for grant aid on the basis of the level of service they provide and the profile of the parents benefiting from their service. The level of funding provided to services for the year is based on the information in the parental declarations which are submitted in the Autumn each year to my Department. The information provided is verified by the Department of Social Protection (DSP) and the HSE. No further funding is made available over and above what is generated by the parental returns which, this year, would have included all the eligible children enrolled in the week commencing the 15th October 2012. Children wishing to enrol for the programme but who did not meet the deadline for enrolment can only be accommodated if they are replacing a child that has opted out of the programme. Parental returns have been submitted by the service provider referred to by the Deputy and provisional payment has been made with a further payment due to issue in January 2013. The next opportunity for enrolment in the programme is expected to be in October 2013. Child Care Costs 574. Deputy Brendan Griffin Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (Deputy Frances Fitzgerald): Youth Services Provision 575. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan 576. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan 577. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (Deputy Frances Fitzgerald): Child and Family Support Agency Remit 578. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (Deputy Frances Fitzgerald): Following on from the work done to date I will continue my work to implement the relevant Programme for Government commitments including:- - The establishment of a Child and Family Support Agency on a statutory basis in order to fundamentally reform the delivery of family support, child welfare and protection services and remove responsibility for these from the Health Service Executive (HSE). - Implementing the recommendations of the Ryan Report, including the inspection of child protection services and putting Children First: National Guidance on a statutory footing. - Maintaining the free Pre-School Year in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) and improving its quality as resources allow. - Enacting legislation to consolidate and reform the law on adoption. - To adopt a new area based approach to child poverty, which draws on best international practice and existing services to tackle every aspect of child poverty. - Continued progress on ending the practice of sending children to St. Patrick’s Institution through the project to develop new children detention facilities at Oberstown, Lusk, Co. Dublin. In addition, a new Children and Young People’s Policy Framework is being developed in a holistic way to comprehend the continuum of the life course from infancy, through early and middle childhood, to adolescence through to early adulthood, in keeping with my Department’s responsibilities for children and young people. It will be the overarching Framework under which policy and services for children and young people will be developed and implemented in the State. Ireland will assume the Presidency of the European Union in January 2013 and in my role as Chairperson of the EU Youth Council, Ireland’s national priority themes for the Youth Council Presidency will aim to promote understanding of the contribution of quality youth work to young people’s development, well-being and social inclusion and maximise the potential of youth policy and youth services in attaining the goals of Europe 2020, in particular in addressing youth employment. Subject to finalisation of matters in relation to the constitutional amendment of children a top priority for my Department for 2013 will be to implement the necessary changes to policy and legislation arising from the amendment, both within my own Department and, in consultation with my Cabinet colleagues, across all relevant Government Departments. Finally, the Deputy will be aware that the recent Budget made additional provision for two new initiatives in relation to an area based approach to child poverty and provision for a new school age childcare scheme. My Department will be working on the detailed arrangements to support the roll out of these initiatives next year. Children and Family Services 579. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (Deputy Frances Fitzgerald): As Minister for Children and Youth Affairs improving outcomes for children and young people is my primary objective. Early childhood care and education programmes are priorities to enhance children’s opportunities for social and educational development. This year some €175.8 million has been provided for the free preschool year which will benefit some 64,500 children. The Youth Affairs Unit of my Department provides a range of funding schemes, programmes and supports to the youth sector. Funding of some €58.306 million is available in 2012 to support the provision of youth services and programmes to young people throughout the country including those from disadvantaged communities. These programmes and services are delivered to over 500,000 young people by some 1,400 youth work personnel, who in turn support a large volunteer base estimated by the National Youth Council of Ireland at some 40,000. The services provided by the National Educational Welfare Board to support children and young people to benefit from and remain in the education system, the care and education services provided in the Children’s Detention Centres for children referred by the Courts and the services provided by the local family resource centres with the support of funding from the Family Support Agency are all important priorities in my Department to support the most vulnerable children and young people. Child Protection Issues 580. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (Deputy Frances Fitzgerald): Children and Family Services 581. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (Deputy Frances Fitzgerald): There are implications in terms of both policy and legislation attaching to the proposal to amend the Constitution, with a significant body of work likely to be involved in amending existing legislation, introducing new legislation, and review of policies and procedures to ensure that they comply with the new improved standards for children. It is not just my Department that will be required to do this, any Department offering services to children and young people will also be affected. For example, the Department of Justice and Equality, which holds responsibility for custody and guardianship legislation, will also face a significant body of work. Some of the principles in the Constitutional amendment are already reflected in statute law, such as the principle of “best interests”. This ‘best interest’ principle is already well-established in Irish statute law, for example in the Child Care Act 1991 and the Adoption Act 2010. This principle is now reflected in the Constitution as the paramount consideration for judges in making decisions in certain critical court proceedings relating to the care of children. As part of the Constitutional proposal I published the Adoption Bill 2012 which it is envisaged will be introduced to the House subject to a successful outcome to the Referendum. This will place new obligations on the Adoption Authority of Ireland amongst others, and I am satisfied that the budget allocation for 2013 will be adequate to meet expenditure that arises in this context. In terms of the Deputy’s core question, the question of resources, everyone in this House will be aware that we are all operating in an environment of very constrained resources. This is the reality of the context in which I seek to deliver on all my commitments in relation to children and young people. As part of our efforts to address Ireland’s deficit, my Department, like all others, has had to find savings. However our overall approach has been to prioritise investment in child and family services and to reform funding streams and delivery mechanisms in order to make the best possible use of resources. The Deputy will be aware of the wide - ranging reform of children's services that is underway and will see the establishment next year of the Child and Family Support Agency dedicated to the improvement of these services through the combination of the activities and resources of the Family Support Agency, the National Education Welfare Board and the child and family services of the HSE. The Agency will have available to it a much stronger and more comprehensive range of resources and expertise than heretofore. The focus of the Agency will be on early intervention and family support services, aimed at delivering 'proportionate' responses to child welfare concerns and to protect children in the home, as envisaged by the Constitutional amendment. This approach will be supported by the inclusion of the existing Family Support Agency and its nationwide network of 106 Family Resource Centres. In addition, I am pleased to say that the new ‘Area Based Approach to Child Poverty’ initiative for which €2.5 million has been provided for in the 2013 Estimates, will build on and continue the work of the Prevention and Early Intervention Programme (PEIP) which supported projects in Tallaght, Ballymun and Darndale. These projects involve a range of pilot programmes to improve outcomes in areas such as literacy, speech and language, parenting, health and pro-social behaviour. In conclusion, I can assure the Deputy that follow through on the proposal to amend the Constitution is a top priority for me, and I will make the necessary resources available within my Department to do so effectively. Children and Family Services 582. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (Deputy Frances Fitzgerald): The Health Service Executive also compiles and publishes monthly, quarterly and annual performance reports which include statistics in relation to child welfare and protection. The annual Review of Adequacy Reports, along with the ongoing performance monitoring provide a detailed picture of service delivery and serve to highlight deficiencies in services and inform policy development. Child Poverty 583. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (Deputy Frances Fitzgerald): My Department works closely with the Department of Social Protection in a ‘whole of Government approach’ to tackling poverty in the population. The Department is represented on the Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare established by the Minister for Social Protection to examine issues to do with the interactions of the tax and welfare systems so that they provide good incentives for parents to take up and remain in work and thereby contribute to the reduction of poverty and child poverty, in particular. As Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, improving children’s outcomes is my primary objective. The development of the Children and Young People’s Policy Framework as the overarching framework under which policy and services for children and young people will be developed and implemented in the State, is an important initiative for cross departmental collaboration to secure this objective. Early childhood care and education programmes, in particular those that are aimed at low income families, are priorities to enhance children’s opportunities for social and educational development and to support parents undertaking training and participating in employment. The network of 107 family resource centres that are funded by the Family Support Agency, under the remit of my Department have an important role in this regard. The Programme for Government committed to reviewing the homeless strategy, The Way Home: A Strategy to Address Adult Homelessness in Ireland 2008-2013, and to implementing a housing led approach to homelessness. Work on the review is almost complete and my colleague the Minister for Housing & Planning, Deputy Jan O Sullivan, intends to issue a policy statement on homelessness shortly. That statement will take account of demands on existing housing and will assess how best to continue providing services in a manner consistent with the elimination of existing homelessness and to ensure more effective prevention strategies. The Minister will be indicating what she expects from housing authorities and other stakeholders in accelerating progress towards realising the ambition of eliminating involuntary long-term homelessness. With regard to my own responsibility, my priority, as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, is to enhance the role of early intervention and support programmes for the most vulnerable children and their families in the context of the new Child and Family Support Agency. As announced in Budget 2013, the Government recently committed to an Area-based Approach to Child Poverty Initiative, for which €2.5 million has been provided for in the 2013 Estimates. This initiative will build on and continue the work of the Prevention and Early Intervention Programme (PEIP) which has supported projects in Tallaght, Ballymun and Darndale, co-funded by my Department and Atlantic Philanthropies. These projects involve a range of pilot programmes to improve outcomes in areas such as literacy, speech and language, parenting, health and pro-social behaviour and are currently being evaluated by national and international experts. It is important that we mainstream the learning from these pilot projects so that proven and effective supports for children and families can be delivered right through the country, including through the range of services to be provided by the new Child & Family Support Agency. The new initiative reflects the Programme for Government commitment to adopt an area based approach to child poverty in co-operation with philanthropic partners, drawing upon best international practice and existing services, to break the cycle of child poverty where it is most deeply entrenched. In line with this commitment, my Department, in conjunction with officials of the Tánaiste, the Ministers for Social Protection, Environment, Community & Local Government, and Education & Skills, will begin working early next year with a view to expanding the number of project sites from 3 to 6. The new initiative will not simply be a continuation of the PEIP scheme but will instead seek to implement programmes which have already been evaluated and proven to work in improving outcomes for children and families at risk of disadvantage. Youth Services Provision 584. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (Deputy Frances Fitzgerald): Budget 2013 announced two new areas where this partnership approach has been adopted. One of these concerns the provision of subsidised after-school childcare places for low income parents entering the workforce, and this will be the result of a collaborative approach between my Department and the Department of Social Protection. This joint initiative will provide over 6,000 afterschool childcare places for children in primary school. This will begin with a pilot scheme in early 2013. The places will be targeted at low-income families and will support parents availing of an employment opportunity. The funding provision for this initiative will be €14 million in a full year. Officials of both Departments will work closely on the operational details of the scheme and the estimated costs in 2013 will be reviewed in this context. The second cross-departmental initiative announced in the Budget that I have been involved with, and which will be led by my Department, is an Area-based Approach to Child Poverty, for which €2.5 million has been provided for in the 2013 Estimates. This initiative will build on and continue the work of the Prevention and Early Intervention Programme (PEIP) which has supported projects in Tallaght, Ballymun and Darndale, co-funded by my Department and Atlantic Philanthropies. These projects involve a range of pilot programmes to improve outcomes in areas such as literacy, speech and language, parenting, health and pro-social behaviour and are currently being evaluated by national and international experts. It is important that we mainstream the learning from these pilot projects so that proven and effective supports for children and families can be delivered right through the country, including through the range of services to be provided by the new Child & Family Support Agency. The new initiative reflects the Programme for Government commitment to adopt an area based approach to child poverty in co-operation with philanthropic partners, drawing upon best international practice and existing services, to break the cycle of child poverty where it is most deeply entrenched. In line with this commitment, my Department, in conjunction with officials of the Tánaiste, the Ministers for Social Protection, Environment, Community & Local Government, and Education & Skills, will begin working early next year with a view to expanding the number of project sites from 3 to 6. The new initiative will not simply be a continuation of the PEIP scheme but will instead seek to implement programmes which have already been evaluated and proven to work in improving outcomes for children and families at risk of disadvantage. At a local level, my Department has responsibility for the development of Children’s Services Committees (CSCs). These bring together a diverse group of agencies in local county areas to engage in joint planning of services for children. These include representatives from the HSE, local authorities, An Garda Síochána, the VECs, the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals, the Irish Primary Principals Network, the NEWB, and other organisations which provide services to children and young people. There are a total of 16 such committees at various stages of development. The membership of CSCs includes senior managers from the major statutory providers of services for children and families. The Chairperson of each CSC is either the HSE Local Health Area Manager or the Area Manager for Children and Family Services and it is their function to ensure that the CSCs secure better developmental outcomes for children through more effective integration of existing services and interventions at local level. The forthcoming Children and Young People's Policy Framework will address the further development of these Committees. Mobility Allowance Applications 585. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Kathleen Lynch): Food Labelling 586. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan Minister for Health (Deputy James Reilly): Responsibility for the enforcement of food labelling legislation rests with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) and its official agents, which include the Health Service Executive (HSE), the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Local Authorities (LAs) and the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA). The HSE follows up on all non-compliances with the food business operators to ensure future compliance. In the other official agencies, food labels are checked at production level as part of routine food controls. DAFM Egg and Poultry Inspectors verify compliance with labelling and the marketing standards for eggs and poultry from primary production through to retail. Hospital Services 587. Deputy Billy Timmins Minister for Health (Deputy James Reilly): Social Workers Register 588. Deputy Dessie Ellis Minister for Health (Deputy James Reilly): The Health and Social care Professionals Council (the Council) is an independent statutory body and is responsible for setting the level of fees. The Council has set the following fee structure:- - A registration fee of €100 for new graduates, who have obtained recognised professional qualifications within two years of applying for registration; - An annual retention fee of €295 for registrants, including those who paid the lower rate on graduation, is payable on the annual renewal date. All health regulators are self funding by way of annual fee income with operational costs being determined by the complexity and breadth of statutory functions specified in its legislation. The greater the registrant base the lower the annual fee charged. Given the enormous registrant base in teaching and nursing, for example, the annual fee charged amounts to less than €100 per annum. Health regulators are single profession regulators whereas the Council is charged with regulating twelve disparate professions, which can add significantly to operating costs. The twelve designated professions to be registered by the Council range in number from under 50 Clinical Biochemists to 5,550 Social Care Workers, which amounts to about 20,000 registrants in total across all professions. This is an extremely low registrant base when compared to a registrant base of well in excess of 60,000 for nurses. The Council has extensive statutory functions under the 2005 Act, and considers the annual fee of €295 the minimum required to enable it to operate. The fee charged by the Council, which takes account of the requirement to become self funding by end 2015, is on a par with that charged by other health regulators and less than some in certain cases. The State is currently funding the Council in its establishment phase (€1.937 million in 2012) to offset the current shortfall in income from registration fees and will continue to do so on a reducing basis for the next 3 years. In response to concerns about the level of fee, the Council has reviewed the regulatory structure to establish what scope exists for controlling registration fees and operational costs and has adopted the following measures: - Where an existing practitioner with the necessary experience and recognised professional qualifications, or equivalent, pays the registration fee of €295 and is granted registration during the transitional period, also known as grandparenting, the application fee will cover them for the remainder of the grandparenting period and one full year of retention of registration after expiration of grandparenting. This concession will only apply to existing practitioners availing of the transitional provisions set out in the Act; - The Council has entered into discussions with the HSE in regard to the feasibility of arrangements for the deduction of the registration fee from monthly salary thereby spreading the cost throughout the year; - Finally, the Council has proposed significant restructuring of the way in which the designated professions will be registered and regulated to provide a more cost effective operating system and keep costs to a minimum. This will require the enactment of primary legislation in due course. Public Sector Staff Issues 589. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett Minister for Health (Deputy James Reilly): I have asked the Executive to reply directly to the Deputy in relation to the engagement that took place with the representative bodies in relation to the expansion of mental health services for 16 and 17 year olds. Ambulance Service Staff 590. Deputy Pearse Doherty 591. Deputy Pearse Doherty 592. Deputy Pearse Doherty Minister for Health (Deputy James Reilly): |
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