As I said in response to Deputy Funchion, the issue of affordability of early learning and childcare for parents is a key priority for me. We need to achieve this alongside our continuing work to improve quality, sustainability and accessibility. This year, my Department is investing €638 million into the sector and affordability for parents is a key policy objective in the context of that investment, separate from the Covid supports I mentioned. There are two major schemes we use in regard to the direction of that…

Nobody disagrees with the Deputy's argument that we are not putting enough money into childcare. We have only been putting money into childcare for the past ten years, so we have come from zero investment then to this figure now, and we have to continue to increase that figure. I do not agree we are going back to normal. We are introducing the joint labour committee, JLC, to provide a pay structure for these incredibly low-paid workers, who tend to be women. We understand that has to be supported by the Government …

The Deputy is correct; I am the Minister. As Minister, it is important I listen, which is why I attended the protest earlier this week to hear from childcare professionals, people working in services daily and managers of these services. It was not the first time I met many of these people. I met many of them online over the past year because I listen. Changes will be made on foot of the information we get back. As for the longer term vision for childcare, a substantial piece of work is coming to us that will map o…

First 5, the whole-of-government strategy for babies, children, young people and families, includes a target to at least double the level of investment in early learning and childcare between 2019 and 2028. As I said earlier, the programme for Government commits to achieving that, which would represent an investment of €1 billion per annum by 2028. This would be a very substantial increase in the voted expenditure for the sector, which amounts to €638 million this year. The new funding model I mentioned earlier wil…

The NCS is a very good system and one I believe we can continue to develop and strengthen. Undoubtedly, an issue has arisen regarding services in areas of high disadvantage, but we must work to fix the issue with the NCS as opposed to going back to some of the old schemes. The future is with the NCS. However, the Deputy is correct. Sponsorship is not the fix. I undertook the broadening of sponsorship to give support to services in the interim. That was an element in assisting approximately 2,000 young people across…

As the Deputy knows, the older funding mechanisms were kept in place for children who were already on the schemes, but we are seeking to move new children coming in onto the new scheme. As long as I have had this role, I have been engaging on this issue. The Deputy has raised it, and I give her full credit for that, but I have engaged on this issue. I have met with the services and listened to the issues. We have introduced some interim solutions to try to get more children into the scheme and give them the full nu…

As I said previously, my Department currently invests €638 million per year in early learning and childcare, and affordability for parents is a key objective. The major programmes funded by the Department are the early childhood care and education programme and the national childcare scheme. The ECCE programme provides free access to early learning and childcare for 15 hours per week for the two years before the child starts primary school. That significantly offsets the childcare costs for parents at that stage. T…

The Deputy is right in saying we need to invest more in childcare. We are among the lowest in Europe and in OECD countries, and we need to invest more. We have only been investing for ten years, which is an embarrassment to Governments going back over the generations. We also need to manage how we invest that additional money. We do not want to put significant investment into the NCS for that to get eaten up by increases in fees across all services. These services are trying bring in additional income so they can p…

I absolutely agree. In response to an earlier question I said that investment in early learning and childcare is a key public good and I think we are all in agreement there. We need to recognise what the investment, while not enough, is achieving at the moment. We have a fantastic childcare sector in this country which, despite the lack of investment it has received, has done so much over the years and particularly during the Covid pandemic. We need to recognise the work that the childcare professionals and provide…

The Deputy will understand I will not give out budget secrets today. I know he and I have engaged extensively on the matter, and as I said to other Deputies earlier, my Department is currently investing €638 million in early learning and childcare, amounting to approximately 60% of the total income of the sector. Most of the rest of the income is from parental fees. The investment of €638 million in 2020 is distinct from the funding that early learning and childcare employers can access under the employment wage su…

I thank the Deputy for arranging that meeting with some of the providers in his constituency. We had good online engagement and I met them face to face on Tuesday outside Leinster House when they formed part of the protest. We had another really useful conversation. That is really useful for me in understanding the real-life implications of the policy decisions we make in the Department. I really value those engagements. The Deputy is correct that the trajectory is really important and the budget this year will dem…

I entirely agree with the Deputy. The work being carried out by national youth organisations through volunteer-led clubs and groups is of major importance. It can be transformative for young people. That is why my Department has worked hard to continue to support these services through a range of funding and other measures. In 2021, we are providing €66.8 million, through a number of schemes, to support the work of youth services and national youth organisations. That includes an additional €5 million in extra spen…

Of the six new services launched this year, only one was in Dublin. It is important to recognise that. We recognise population growth occurs all over the country. In rural areas, a youth service may often be the only outlet for young people, whereas there are other choices in highly urbanised areas. We put significant investment into some of the big operations in Kerry, such as Kerry Diocesan Youth Services, KDYS, which is the key linchpin in providing substantial youth services across a large number of areas. We a…

The point the Deputy made on activities outside those that are core is very interesting because the Tánaiste and I met a number of people working in national youth services recently to discuss what they can do to support Government actions on youth unemployment. There is a focus on that post pandemic. We are seeing unemployment rates come down, which is very important, but there is a group of young people who are very distant from further and higher education or employment. A youth service is often the first engage…

I thank the Deputy. This is an issue she raises with me on a regular basis, and I thank her for her ongoing engagement. As she said, in response to the final report of the commission of investigation, the Government approved a suite of 22 specific measures. My Department is finalising a high-level action plan for survivors and former residents of mother and baby and county home institutions. I intend to bring this action plan to Government and publish it later this month. Once approved, the action plan will support…

I thank the Deputy. She has made important points. I will try to offer her reassurance. I hope the action plan, with each of the 22 points, and how we intend, quarter by quarter, to implement them, will provide some reassurance. The point the Deputy made about communication is really important. It is an issue that has been raised when I have met survivors, particularly when I met survivors' groups in Tuam at the end of August. I have endeavoured to improve the amount of communications we send, particularly through …

Enhanced medical cards will be provided as part of the redress package, along with financial payments, the detail of which will be set out in the costed proposals I will bring to the Government this month. Local memorialisation is very important and can often be the most meaningful for individuals who grew up in an area and were incarcerated in one of these institutions. It is valuable when they see that local recognition of what happened to them. I recognise the work the Deputy has done with the group she helped t…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 105, 115, 118 and 119 together. In response to the crisis in Afghanistan, my Department, through the IRPP, has made approximately 400 refugee places available for humanitarian places from Afghanistan. Since August, 189 Afghan nationals from 49 families have entered Ireland from Afghanistan under the IRPP of whom 76 are aged under 18 years. Further arrivals are expected over the coming weeks. A further 13 Afghan nationals, or three families, arrived in Ireland in September on foot of…

I share the Deputy's concerns. From my direct engagement with members of the Afghan community living here in Ireland, I know that things are very bad in Afghanistan right now. The PR savvy approach we saw from the Taliban in the initial weeks is not reflected in life in the country. That is why, in providing for refugees, we have targeted those who are most vulnerable including women, people who support women, people who are in the LGBTI+ community and journalists. The Deputy is absolutely right about Syria. We hav…

The Deputy has raised a number of key international humanitarian obligations that this Government recognises as priorities, as does everyone across the country. We do have the resources. In last year's budget, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, provided my Department with an extra €5 million that we used to specifically target unaccompanied minors. These are young people under the age of 18 who do not have any family and who have fled. Many such young people are on the island of…