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CHILDREN’S MINISTER KATHERINE Zappone has said she is exploring proposals to bring childminders into the childcare subsidies scheme announced in Budget 2017.
During a Facebook Live interview with TheJournal.ie yesterday evening, the minister said she understood that some parents have a “huge preference” to have their children looked after by childminders, rather than in large-scale creche facilities.
“We’re aware of that,” she said.
The new scheme announced on Tuesday will provide parental means-tested subsidies towards the cost of childcare for children aged six months to 15 years and universal subsidies of up to €80 a month or €900 a year for all children aged between six months and three years.
The subsidies will be paid for children attending a Tusla-registered childcare provider only.
Childminders
Zappone said she met members from the childcare sector yesterday morning, where the issue of childminders was raised.
Only 125 childminders are currently registered with the Child and Family Agency (CFA), Tusla. The body has the right to inspect registered childcare services and close them down if necessary.
“The first thing we are looking at is how to encourage a greater number of those people to register,” said Zappone.
However, she said she understood that once they do register, under current regulations, they have to do a number of things to comply with certain health and safety and child care regulations, to the same standard as a creche.
The current Tusla model has been criticised by Childminding Ireland who said the inspection model is a “one size fits” all approach which focuses on creches and doesn’t acknowledge the uniqueness of caring for a child in the home.
“We would like to explore that maybe there is another way in which to work with childminders to ensure that they provide the quality that we as the State have a responsibility to see, but perhaps not to do it in the model that is currently operating with Tusla… they have to register with the CFA in order to be supported by the department,” said Zappone.
Tusla inspections
The minister said she has asked Childminding Ireland to work closely with the department to find a way for childminders to be brought into the subsidies fold, by securing Tusla registration, in a less rigorous fashion than is currently the case.
I have asked Child Minding Ireland to work very closely with us over the next couple of months and if we can find a way then, maybe we would be able to devise a way to support them.
We need to ensure there is safety and quality, but there may be another model in order to ensure quality… it may not be as onerous as it is currently in terms of the Tusla model we are operating.
A source from the Department of Children and Youth Affairs said it is looking to see if a “half way house” can be found in terms of regulations for creches and childminders.
TheJournal.ie / TwitterHead over to our Facebook page to watch our live #Budget17 Q&A with Ministers Coveney and Zappone https://t.co/bWkCZ42o4L pic.twitter.com/EEmwmjGLRE
— TheJournal.ie (@thejournal_ie) October 12, 2016
Childminding Ireland CEO and spokesperson Bernadette Orbinski Burke told TheJournal.ie that a childminder must register with Tusla on the fourth pre-school child a person cares for.
Anyone minding two or three children is not required to register. Parents who choose to have their children cared for with these childminders cannot avail of the subsidy announcement.
She said there are a lot of misnomers in relation to the term”unregistered childminder” stating that often times these minders are registered with their local city and county board, but just not with Tusla.
Unregistered childminders
These childminders are often former creche workers, are fully trained and have first aid training and other certificates.
Orbinski Burke was critical of the Tusla inspection method, stating that the “one size fits all” model did not appreciate the unique setting of minding a child in a home.
She said creche regulations are often superseded onto childminders working in a home environment.
One member of Childminding Ireland was told during an inspections that the person that prepares the food for the children, cannot be the same person that changes the nappies, said Orbinski Burke.
“We need them to appreciate the ethos of a minding a child in the home and that these people are working on their own in the home,” she added.
Orbinski Burke confirmed that the minister has asked her to sit on a working group, which will include representatives from Tusla and Pobal, to look at a regulatory system that would preserve and acknowledge the setting of minding a child at home.
The date to report back to the minister has been brought forward from May.
Orbinski Burke said she hopes this is a sign that the urgency of the matter is being taken seriously.
TheJournal.ie understands that Tusla and the department have already been fielding a lot of calls from members of the public and childminders wishing to find out more about registering with Tusla.
The agency’s funding as increased by €1 million to €68 million to fund additional inspection and registrations regimes, with an additional four inspectors being hired.
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil’s spokesperson on Children and Youth Affairs, Anne Rabbitte said she is looking for a commitment from Zappone that she will support childminders.
She said she has a number of concerns in relation to the government’s plan, but said she thinks it is a “step in the right direction”.
Her biggest concern is that childminders, some that are registered with city and county childcare boards, but not Tusla registered are being left out in the cold.
Rabbitte said she wants to see the minister expanding supports for the childminder, by bringing them up to regulation standards.
I want her to bring more people into the mix on this. I want a commitment on supports by the minister to bring more people into the fray.
While she said the child care plan “is going in the right direction” but said if supports aren’t given to those childminders that are outside the fold, it “defeats the whole thing”.
“If over 25,000 children people sign up to this, where are we going to put them if the childminders aren’t accepted. They will have to go to creches, and we will see prices rise… we need to see supports for childminders sooner rather than later,” said Rabbitte.
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Hows that going to work. The child minder thats takes cash only and pays no tax ????
Should be done through tax, anyone working needs childminders in some shape or form.
(Through paye of the working parent/s) through the months of July and August it should be doubled.
many claim the dole too.
It would be more in Ms. Zappone’s line to explore ways to stop the corporations dodging their taxes instead of facilitating them as she did in the Apple case with the €19 billion outstanding. That sum would cover a generation of childcare for the country,
@Kieran Mcnamee:@Kieran Mcnamee: Voluntarily notifified childminders are qualified, Garda vetted, first aid trained, registered with the county council and tax compliant. Our child ratios are capped at a maximum of 3 and our income is capped at €15k. We are hardly millionaires! Yet unfortunately we have been excluded from this scheme. We would welcome inspections that are appropriate to a home environment rather than a creche…
If both parents of the children are in work full time, give them the tax credit of 900. Problem solved.
@anto curran. Why make something simple when you can make it very complicated. How else can these spoofers appear like they’re actually doing something.
Not really as you would only be saving / getting 190 quid a year, not 900 as it would be taxed at the 21%.
So increase that to 4K tax credit for each child under 15.
To be more exact (give or take a couple of euro) a tax credit of 4300 would be needed.
4300 taxed at 21% is 903 euro.
So a 900 tax credit isn’t worth much at all!!!!
@Anto Curran: I see no problem with it being there if only one parent is working too.
Lily, you’re confusing a tax allowance with a tax credit. A tax allowance works like you say. But a tax credit is a straight deduction from your tax bill, so 900 euros is worth 900 euros as long as you’ve paid at least 900 euros in tax.
Not everyone pays tax. My husband is on minimum wage and he has my tax free allowance. He hasn’t paid tax in years
And do you pay tax?
@Frank’s Cat: tax measures favour parents earning more. Students, people who were on the dole but got work towards the end of the tax year etc would not benefit.
Children are better off being looked after by a parent. Either parent.
Failing that a granny.
I don’t care what training or certificates a childminder has, a child is much better off in the security of their own home with their own family, accompanying granny for a walk or to the shops.
In a crèche with 15 other kids is never the answer. They simply won’t get the attention or stimulation.
I appreciate it’s difficult for most people but we need to redesign society and take a long hard look at how we do things. One parent should put their career on hold for a few years to do the more important work of looking after the kids.
I career and identity (whatever that is) is more important then go ahead. Many kids will be fine but some need more attention than others.
A crèche simply doesn’t provide that.
It does provide socialisation however, Tom. Montessori also teaches kiddies pre school curriculum and makes entry into school a lot easier.
Socialisation?
10 kids in a corner?
A child trying to nap when another is crying?
Pre school curriculum?
No need.
They will learn when they go to school, no rush.
They learn nothing granny can’t teach them.
Socialisation is the thing the guilty mother tries to.console themselves with.
You know ‘she’s really happy in there because she gets to meet so many kids”
Tom, have you been to a crèche recently?! 10 kids in a corner?!
As to pre school curriculum, actually it’s really good for kids to learn early. Montessori is a very well established and acknowledged way of teaching.
I wonder why you feel a parent (though I note you said mother) would feel guilty?
I also said above that a child should be looked after by either parent.
I think it’s a no brainer.
A kid is best at home.
At home doesn’t mean they never see another kid but kids need peace too.
Getting dropped at a crèche at 8am to be collected at 5.30pm is not good.
For get the learning.
Where’s the peace, fresh air, walks in the park, feeding the ducks, trip to the shops?
Far more important than the alphabet, believe me.
And granny, Tom, no mention of grandad.
You’re falling into the trap of stereotypical comments; who says every child is dropped off early and picked up late?
There can be plenty of time for walks and picnics and football and baking and playing. My little one is at home with me, I love it, I’m also very lucky and I know it. But he is also and will be an only child. He needed time with other kiddies which wasn’t easily available, spent 3 hours a day ecce year in Creche and adored it. He was looked after by a lovely team of staff for those hours and between time at home and time there, it was a very holistic year.
We need to be realistic here. Children attend Creche, there’s no point in looking for the clock to go back, it won’t.
If the clock won’t go back that’s fine.
I’m just stating the obvious.
As for granny grandad, who cares?
You’re trying to read something that ain’t there.
Not really Tom, you’re harking back to a time of long ago. While I agree things need to change going back to the past isnt necessarily the right way. There are many parents who chose to work outside the home as well as those who must. Neither is wrong.
As to the gender, ah now Tom, you’re a man who chooses his words carefully!!
@Tom Burke: You forgot stories, learning about nature etc but I fully agree with you.
@Tom Burke: voluntarily registered childminders are often stay at home parents who create their own employment, mind their own children and enable parents who choose to or have to work outside the home to do so. We are also above board and tax compliant – yet we are excluded from this scheme.
This is just gas.
“the person that prepares the food for the children, cannot be the same person that changes the nappies.”
Don’t let the wife hear about this…trouble ahead
@Wurps: Stay at home parents should be given full dole but not need to seek work. Anybody who is earning € 200 a week and paying somebody € 200 a week to mind their kids is not fit to be a parent. This is a sham by all accounts and we will be expected to fund conception grants if we don’t start to make people look after their own kids, note I did say they should get full dole for it. It won’t be long before every sharia lover in Europe hears about this.
The Minister for Children who thinks abortion isn’t widely available enough.
U ok?
If you are an unregistered child minder and you fall for this trick…
Katherine exploring ways to bring …… nah, sounds too paly paly to me.
I’m just pointing out that the Minister for Children thinks abortion should be freely available. In the UK where abortion is freely available, 90% of Downs babies are aborted.
Of those not destroyed, over 80% learn to read and write.
What gives Minister Zappone the right to zap life?
“60% of the time it works…Every time.”
Do you scan every story to figure out a way to squeeze the word “abortion” into the comment. Is it like some kind of Catholic tourettes. How do you cope in a restaurant? ” I’ll have a the steak. Medium-well. ABORTION! And a glass of cabernet, please. NOT YOUR UTERUS! And is the desert included in the set menu?”
What are you talking about? I never mentioned the word.
Ooooh kaaaay. [backs away slowly]
This is nonsense.
Bench warrant issued for arrest of Clare Daly over speeding offence. That’s what you get for asking the hard questions!
Tis quare when a lesbian is minister for children
@Tom Burke. Of course a child is always best looked after at homecwith a parent. However this is not possible for most families. There are pros and cons to sending your child to a creche. As a childminder who is voluntarily notified with my loxal childcare comittee, a member of Childminding Ireland, registered for tax, First aid trained, Insured , undergone child protection training and Level 5 Fetac Childcatre wualification I try to provide the best of both home environment and creche as do many voluntarily notified childminders like myself. I am a mum myself. I treat the children in my care s if they were my own. I cuddle them if they are upset or sick. I take them for walks, I take them to the park. I paint with them, bake with them. We pkay outside and go on nature walks. I have an abundance of toys and books. They never watch tv in my care. The children are happy and the parents trust me to care for their kids. I see how hard it is for parents to leave their babies while they go to work. I know as I done it with my own son for 3 yrs. Parents should not be shamed or judged for going out to work.
#neveragain will trust independent politician like you her #betrayed
Strange how Ends entrusted care of children to a women who thinks most of them should be aborted. You wouldn’t need a budget for childcare if she had her way.
What about more tax credits for working parents? Single working mother or father receive half what a couple receive.
The fair and useful way to help parents and children is to have extra child benefit, as Fianna Fáil did for a bit, for parents of children under six/ Different families used it in different ways, towards a parent staying at home, towards a relative minding, towards a childminder, towards a creche, towards a playgroup for 3 hours a weekday. I agree that 3 and 4 year olds benefit from playgroups for a few hours of social play a day, but not for anything like the full working day of an adult. Kids who sleep for example 12 hours a night can be spending most of each day in an institution if not minded in a home, their own or someone else’s.
The HSE, as part of a service now run by TUSLA, employed or in some areas funded employment of Childminders’ Advisors who supported childminders in providing quality childcare. They recently dropped this. They need to do this again rather than try to push all childminders, several relatives of the children they mind, into an inspection system with rules that never expect a loving, child-led atmosphere.
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