Investing in Tomorrow

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DISCUSSION PAPER ON EARLY

CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION

INVESTING IN

TOMORROW

SEPTEMBER

2013


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INVESTING IN TOMORROW FIANNA FIL DISCUSSION PAPER ON EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION

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CONTENTSIntroduction

The Current Early Childhood Care and Education Landscape 2

The National Early Years Strategy 3

Fianna Fil Vision for Early Childhood Care and Education in Ireland 3

Overarching Goals:

Children, Parents, Society and the Economy 4

Underpinning Principles 5

Summary, Key Recommendations and Targets for Implementation 6

Objective 1: Raising Quality Standards 11

Objective 2: Supporting and Professionalising theEarly Childhood Workforce 17

Objective 3: Enabling the Inclusion of Children with SpecialEducational Needs in Early Childhood Services 21

Objective 4: Providing Accessible and AffordableChildcare to Working Parents 25

Objective 5: Tackling Obesity in Early Childhood 29

References: 34

Appendices: Appendix 1: Key Developments that Shaped

the ECCE Sector in Ireland 1992-2012 35

Appendix 2: Existing Funding Supports

for Childcare in Ireland 37

Investing in TomorrowDiscussion Paper on

Early Childhood Care

and Education August 2013The purpose of this Fianna Fil Discussion Paper is to promote

an informed conversation between parents, stakeholders and

policy-makers regarding the further development of early

childhood care and education in Ireland.


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INTRODUCTIONEarly childhood education is a fundamental component of Irelands education system.Learning and development that takes place in early childhood, provides an essentialcornerstone for lifelong learning and educational attainment. Effective early childhood careand education has a significant role to play inreducing educational underachievement,

particularly for children who are faced with barriersto learning, thereby reducing or eliminating theneed for later interventions.

Investing in Tomorrow: the Fianna Fil DiscussionPaper on Early Childhood Care and Education,seeks to ensure that through policy, legislationand investment, children get the best start in life toenable them to reach their full educationalpotential.

The previous 12 years have witnessed manypositive developments for Early Childhood Care

and Education and under the Fianna Filadministration; there was a clear commitment toinvesting in children. At policy level, a range of key initiatives are relevant to the emergenceof structures to support early childhood care and education (see appendix 1).

Prior to 2000, there was very limited capacity in the childcare sector. However, over thedecade 2000 to 2010, the State, initially in partnership with the EU, invested 425 millioncapital funding to create childcare places throughout Ireland.

The Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme which ran between 2000 and 2007 createdsome 40,000 childcare places, while its successor the National Childcare InvestmentProgramme created 25,000 new childcare places between 2006 and 2011. As a result of

these two programmes, we now have extensive early childhood physical infrastructure in

place. The introduction of the Free Pre-School Year by Minister for Children Barry Andrewsin 2010 was also a monumental advance for early childhood education in Ireland. The Stateinvests approximately 175 million each year in the scheme and approximately 95% ofchildren participate.

This discussion paper on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) acknowledges FiannaFails commitment to support the strengthening of these fundamentals to ensure thatprevious investment is not lost and the infrastructure is protected, sustained and improved.

The Current ECCE Landscape

Childcare provision in Ireland encompasses a mixed model of provision with servicesdelivered through the community, private and public sector. There are approximately 4,300childcare centres in Ireland. This is more than all primary schools (3,300) and second levelschools (723) combined. The number of staff employed in the childcare sector in Ireland isaround 21,000. By contrast, there is approximately 32,000 full-time equivalent teaching staffin primary schools (McKeown and Haase, 2013).

While Irelands focus on early childhood care and education has undoubtedly improved anddevelopments in the field are welcomed, we are less advanced than our Europeancounterparts in relation to investment and policy implementation for children under statutoryschool age.


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The National Early Years Strategy

Fianna Fil welcomes the development of a new National Early Years Strategy. The NationalEarly Years Strategy will represent an important way forward for the further development ofthe early childhood sector in Ireland and provides an opportunity to ensure that the significantadvancements within the early childhood sector witnessed over the past twelve years aredeveloped and built upon.

Fianna Fil proposes that the forthcoming National Early Years Strategy is ambitious, actionspecific and target based within a specific timeframe. It is essential that the specifics of thestrategy are appropriately resourced to ensure practical implementation on the ground. Thestrategy should be seen as an investment in children and deliver a strong message on thevalue that we place as a society on a childs first six years of life.

Fianna Fils Vision for Early ChildhoodCare and Education in Ireland

Fianna Fil put forward a vision for Early Childhood Care and Education that iscontemporary, rational and responsive to the needs of parents and children in Ireland

today.Through the proposal of a range ofgoals, objectives, recommendations and actions,Fianna Fil are committed to progressing the regulation, quality and affordability of earlychildhood care and education as an important early intervention measure where benefits areinterdependent for young children, parents, society and the economy.


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OVERARCHING GOALS:Children, Parents, Society and the Economy

Children: Supporting every child s right to highquality early education and care

To support every childs right to high quality early education in environments wherechildren are safe, valued, happy, healthy and protected from harm

To provide equal access to high quality early education and childcare services for allchildren from birth to six years of age where children can reach their full potentialregardless of individual ability or circumstance

To ensure children with special educational needs are integrated into the earlyeducation and childcare sector, through the provision of necessary supports to enablethem to access and participate fully in early childhood service provision.

Parents: Enabling, supporting and informing parents To support parents to maintain a work-life balance through statutory leave entitlements To ensure that childcare service provision is accessible, flexible and affordable to a

level that incentivises and supports parents to return to work or remain in employment To ensure all parents have access to information about standards in early childhood

services and to promote parents active involvement in their childrens early education,including the transition from pre-school to primary school.

Society and the Economy: Developing a professionaland purposeful early chi ldhood sector

To ensure all early childhood services are continuously monitored and fully regulated toenable the health, safety and well-being of all children in line with the highestinternational standards

To provide professional pathway routes for staff working in the early childhood sectorincluding minimal qualifications, training opportunities and appropriate remuneration forqualifications and experience.

To ensure that Irelands investment in the early childhood care and education system ismaintained and incrementally increased to ensure that services are protected anddeveloped in line with European early childhood provision.


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UNDERPINNING PRINCIPLESInvesting in Tomorrow: the Fianna Fil Discussion Paper on EarlyChildhood Care and Education is grounded in the followingunderpinning principles:

Children are valued and respected as youngcitizens, enjoying a childhood where they arecherished and supported by their family andby the wider society.

Investing in early childhood care andeducation is more than just a financialinvestment; it is a statement of commitmentand respect for every childs right toeducation regardless of age, ability orbackground in Irish society.

The early childhood sector is valued as a

core component of Irelands employment,economic and enterprise infrastructure andone that will play a pivotal role in enablingpeople to return to work as the economyimproves.

The Fianna Fil Discussion Paper on Early Childhood Care andEducation draws on a range of consultation mechanisms including:

Fianna Fil held an Education Policy Conference in J une 2012, entitled PuttingEducation First. A wide range of valuable proposals were put forward by those in

attendance, many of which have been incorporated into this document. As part of the Fianna Fil Ard Fheis in 2013, a number of suggestions regarding early

childhood care and education policy were put forward from members during theseminar entitled Education and Children: Cherishing our Future.

The Fianna Fil Early Childhood Care and Education Discussion Paper is in line withnational and international research in two key areas: evidence regarding the effectiveness of quality early childhood care and

education for childrens life chances and subsequent educational performance; evidence that shows the economic return to investment in childrens early years

is significantly higher than the return to investment in education later in childhood.


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SUMMARY, KEY RECOMMENDATIONSAND TARGETS FOR IMPLEMENTATION

Investing in Tomorrow: Fianna Fils Discussion Paper on Early Childhood Care and

Education, is about progression and moving forward. Fianna Fil believes thatthrough its effectiveness in prevention and early intervention, quality early care and

education has the potential to transform childrens life chances and reduce futuresocial expenditure by the State. Recent revelations about standards in childcare, leadus to ask not whether we can afford to invest in early childhood care and education,but rather can we afford not to.

OBJ ECTIVE 1:Raising Quality StandardsThe raising of quality standards in early childhood care and education will require asignificant effort on behalf of the government. There is no single solution to this. A multi-faceted approach in the areas of Registration, Regulation, Inspection and Policy Activation isrequired.

In an effort to protect the welfare of children in early childhood services, it is imperative thatall aspects of the sector are regulated, inspected and brought under child protectionlegislation. The pre-school inspection process requires an overhaul to ensure a purposefulsystem of regulation. This includes a system of registration, to ensure compliance prior toopening and funding penalties or de-registration for serious non-compliance.

Further recommendations for improving quality standards include moving responsibility forearly childhood care and education to one department to promote a more cohesive approachto policy implementation. The development of an implementation strategy for Irelandscurriculum and quality frameworks and the need to make formal links between the pre-schooland primary school sectors are also recommended. To achieve real and tangible progress inprogressing quality standards in early childhood care and education, Fianna Fil recommend

an increasing incremental investment of GDP over the next ten years in the key areasrecommended in this discussion paper.

Key Recommendations (P13-19) Targets for

Implementation

1. ECCE sits w ith a single Government Department Immediate effect

2. The GDP ratio in relation to investment in ECCE isincrementally increased

To start Budget 2014

3. The inclusion of Childminding and School Age

Childcare in childcare legislation

Include in forthcoming

Children First Bill4. A revi sed inspec ti on system includ ing a regist ration

process and the involvement of HIQA to be extendedto all chi ld related services

2013-2014

5. Ac tivation of early ch il dhood qual ity and practiceframeworks

Immediate effect

6. Standardised Transition Statement between Pre-School and Primary School.

Developed and piloted2014-2016


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OBJ ECTIVE 2:Supporting and Professionalisingthe Early Childhood Workforce

National and international research has established that the skills and qualifications of adultsworking with young children is a critical factor in determining the quality of young childrensearly learning experiences. The levels of effective early childhood care and education in earlychildhood services depends on having highly skilled and trained staff.

Fianna Fil proposes that now is the time to invest in and develop a graduate-led,professional early childhood workforce. This is essential to achieve high quality standards inthe education and care of young children, in keeping with quality provision internationally. Asa key incentive to raise quality standards and to intensify the impact of the WorkforceDevelopment Plan, recommendations include the development of a Professional EarlyChildhood Training Fund for the early childhood workforce with targeted, proportionallyallocated funding and pre-determined conditions for participation.

Furthermore, it is proposed that in the interim period at least, State funded childcareprogrammes are an important conduit for improving quality standards through pre-determined conditions for participation.

State funded training organisations need to be fully committed to providing the best quality

training programmes for the early childhood workforce. Quality assurance standards shouldbe consistently applied and all early childhood care and education programme contentshould be current, relevant and fit for purpose.

Key Recommendations (P20-23) Targets for Implementation

1. The development of a Professional EarlyChildhood Training Fund, using a needs-led

targeted approach.

15m on an incremental basis2014-2017

2. Early chi ldhood services in receipt ofhigher capitation rates wil l remunerate staff

accordingly as an incentive for staff to trainto graduate level

Revisions made to the contractof service for state funded early

childhood services.

March 2014 or next entry/re-entry contract term for childcarefunding programmes.

3. Working conditions for the early childhoodworkforce are improved to include paidnon-contact time and an allocation ofcontinuing professional development days

Revisions made to the contractof service for state funded earlychildhood services.

March 2014 or next entry/re-entry contract term forchildcare funding programmes.

4. Mandatory training levels are included inchildcare regulations

Revisions made to the ChildCare Regulations: 2014

5. Existing Childcare and Education TrainingProgrammes are fit for purpose.

September 2014


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OBJ ECTIVE 3:Enabling the Inclusion of Children with SpecialEducational Needs in Early Childhood Services

Fianna Fil supports a policy of inclusion in that every child with a disability or specialeducational need is enabled to access early childhood education provision in integrated andinclusive environments, rather than specialised settings, unless it is not in the best interestsof the child.

Nevertheless, the absence of a specific inclusion policy or guidelines for early childhood is asignificant barrier to the realisation of inclusive practice in mainstream early childhoodservices. In addition, supports for children with special needs are largely at the discretion ofthe local HSE resulting in varying levels of service across counties and regions.

Proposals and recommendations to enable inclusion include the full implementation of theEPSEN Act 2004 and the development of a National Inclusion Policy for the early childhoodsector. It is further recommended that responsibility for the provision of Special NeedsAssistants to mainstream pre-school services rests with the HSE through accessibledisability support services.

The expansion of flexible models of early childhood provision is recommended to support theinclusion of children with more severe and complex needs. This enables a system of dual

placement between specialist and mainstream provision throughout the country, to meet achilds individual learning and support needs.

Fianna Fil proposes the extension of the Free Pre-School Year to a second, full pre-schoolyear for children with special educational needs and disabilities. It is proposed that this is thefirst step in the phased roll-out of a second pre-school year for all children.

Key Recommendations (p.24-28) Targets for Implementation

1. The implementation o f the EPSEN Act(2004)

Immediate effect

2. A National Inc lusion Pol icy for the earl ychildhood care and education sector

Provision within Budget 2013

3. Move to mainstream SEN Assistants beingdirectly employed by the HSE

2014

4. Flexible models of early childhoodprovision to support the inclusion ofchildren with more severe and complexneeds inc luding a system of dual placement

Retain existing specialist pre-school services and map theneed for further services as partof a National Inclusion Plan(above)

5. The provision of a second full free pre-school year for all children with specialeducational needs.

Pre-School Year 2013/14


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OBJ ECTIVE 4:Providing Accessible andAffordable Childcare to Working Parents

Fianna Fil believe that the provision of childcare and employment are interdependent and itis imperative that evidence based policy proposals are developed to both act as an incentivefor working parents to either return to or remain in employment and as a measure to tacklechild poverty and educational outcomes for children.

Consequently, Irelands early childhood policy acts as an enormous barrier to workingfamilies and to women in particular. Irelands childcare policy is actively not supporting andeven systemically punishing working parents and their children.

Fianna Fil proposes that the Government needs to systemically address the cost ofchildcare for working families through a cost analysis of childcare in Ireland with cost reliefproposals for working parents. Recommendations around paid maternity leave and thedevelopment of a joint transferrable paid parental leave plan are proposed.

The development of School Aged Childcare is also recommended as a means of providingessential support services for working parents.


1. A Government Commissioned CostAnalysi s o f Chi ldcare i n Ireland includ ing

cost relief proposals for working parents

March 2014

2. An extension of statutory paid Materni tyLeave to one year by 2019

Incrementally to reach 52 weeksby 2019.

3. A joint trans fer rable paid parental leaveplan, based on the existing maternity

leave entitlements as an in terim measure

Immediate effect

4. The development of School AgedChildcare Provis ion

National Early Years Strategy capital investment 2014-2017


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OBJ ECTIVE 5:Tackl ing Obesity in Early ChildhoodIreland is facing an obesity epidemic. Recent figures show that 31.8 % of Irish 7 year oldsare either overweight or obese, that is more than 1: 4 school aged children. This translates to100,000 children who are obese and 300,000 children who are overweight in Ireland, with70% of these children likely to become obese adults.The problem begins in childhood and isbeginning earlier and earlier as currently 6% of 3 year olds are obese.

The social and physical environments provided in early childhood services exert an importantinfluence on childrens diet, behaviour and lifestyle choices. With regard to young children,many opportunities exist for enhanced health promotion through the early childhoodcurriculum.

A series of recommendations are put forward including a National Obesity Prevention andTreatment Strategy. In addition, the development of, and support to, early interventionprogrammes and initiatives such as a Health Promotion Flag Initiative and the expansion ofexisting Childhood Obesity Prevention Programmes is proposed.

Recommendations for early childhood services include the mandatory provision of outdoorplay spaces and a series of actions to improve the breadth and effectiveness of healthpromotion education and obesity prevention.


1. National Obesity Prevention andTreatment Strategy outlin ingresponsibilities for all stakeholders

March 2014

2. Development of and support to earlyintervention programmes and initiativessuch as a Health Promotion Flag

Initiative and the expansion of existingChildhood Obesity PreventionProgrammes such as Up4it!

September 2013

3. The availability of outdoor play spacesare a mandatory requirement for new

early childhood services

Requirement of new Pre-SchoolRegistration process: 2014-2015

4. The inclusion of requirements forphysical activi ty, nutrition, and exposureto digital media incorporated into the

Child Care Regulations.

Requirement of revised Child CarePre-School Services Regulations:2014-2015


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OBJECTIVE 1:

Raising Quality Standards

Key recommendations:

1. Responsibilit y for Early Childhood Care and Education sit s with one singleGovernment Department

2. An investment o f 0.7% of GDP in earl y chi ldhood care and educati on3. The inclus ion of childmind ing and school age childcare in childcare legislation

4. A revi sed and fi t f or purpose inspec tion system inc luding a regi st ration processfor all early childhood services including childminders

5. The activation of early chi ldhood quality and curr iculum practice frameworks6. The development of a s tandardised Transition Statement between pre-schoo l

and primaryschool.

Context

There is consensus in academic literature that high quality pre-school programmes have

lasting positive effects for children and society, particularly for children from low socio-economic backgrounds and for those at risk of developing learning or behavioural difficultiesat school (Barnett, 2008). On a review of international research on human capital, economist

J ames Heckman concludes that the economic return to investment in childrens early yearsis higher than the return to investment in later childhood (2006). Nevertheless, pre-schooleducation is the least resourced stage of Irelands education system.

Responsibi lity for Early Childhood Care and Education

Currently there is cross departmental responsibility for early childhood care and education inIreland. This can lead to a disjointed approach to strategic development, policy

implementation and resource responsibility for early childhood care and education.


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The Inspectorate from the Department of Education and Skills (DES) and the HealthServices Executive (HSE) Pre-School Inspection Services have a common interest in thequality assurance of pre-school services. The HSE Pre-School Inspection Service isresponsible for inspecting early childhood services that cater for children 0-6 years of age.Childcare services, with the exception of child-minding, are governed by the Child Care Act1991 and the subsequent Child Care (Pre-School Services) (No 2) Regulations 2006. It isanticipated that the inspection of pre-school services will soon be transferred from the HSEto the new Child and Family Support Agency in the Department of Children and Youth Affairs

(DCYA).The Early Years Education Policy Unit (EYPU) in the Department of Education and Skills isco-located with the DCYA to ensure that policy developments in the early childhood sectorare developed within an overall strategic policy framework for children.

Local and national early childhood support agencies are a crucial resource to assist childcareproviders to both maintain and build on quality standards in early childhood care andeducation. Local agencies such as City and County Childcare Committees provide a highdegree of flexibility and responsiveness in terms of local need regarding quality supports,training and information. With appropriate resources, these existing support structures canraise quality standards through the provision of on the ground training, mentoring and peernetworking supports.

Irelands Investment in Early Childhood Care and Education

Irelands investment in early childhood care and education is low by international standards.The OECD Average is 0.7% of GDP, with Scandinavian countries widely recognised for bestpractice in early childhood services; investment exceeds 1% (OECD 2012).

According to a paper prepared by Barnardos and Start Strong in 2012, there is a range ofinterconnecting features that are common to childcare systems in the Nordic Countries.

These draw on a shared commitment to childrens rights, a broad understanding ofeducation, recognition of the importance of quality childcare, and a shared view of the role of

the state in ensuring the availability of quality affordable early childhood and afterschoolservices. To reach such aspirations in Ireland will require a significant movement in policyactivation and investment.

Government expenditure figures from 2012 provide a picture of the investment level in earlychildhood care and education services in Ireland amounted to 300m or less than 0.2% ofGDP. This can be broken down as follows:

Free Pre-School Year 175m

Childcare Supports fo r low income families CETS, CCS Scheme

80.9m

Childcare Workers through the CommunityEmployment Scheme

22.4m

County Childcare Committees 11.3m

National Voluntary Childcare Organisations 2.8m

Early Intervention Programme 1.6m

In order to achieve real and tangible progress in progressing quality standards in earlychildhood care and education, Fianna Fil recommend an increasing incremental investment

to 0.7 pc of GDP over the next ten years, in the key areas recommended in this discussion


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paper. Obviously such investment can only take place as resources permit within the contextof Ireland honouring its commitments under the EU Fiscal Compact Treaty.

ECCE Joint Evaluation 2011/2012Irelands lack of investment in quality standards has been brought sharply into focus in recentmonths through both media exposure into standards in childcare services and through a

report commissioned jointly by the DES and the HSE. These developments have providedevidence of a number of worrying realisations about the quality of state funded earlychildhood education in Ireland.

A joint inspection of early childhood provision in 15 state funded early childhood services wascarried out in 2011-2012. The report concluded that the process provides evidence that theprogramme of activities and the management structure and organisation are aspects ofprovision which, in some settings, require significant attention and improvement.

The extent to which the programme of activities and its implementation supports thechildrens development was effective in less than half, with 8 settings demonstratingsignificant weaknesses or more weaknesses than strengths. Furthermore, the extent towhich the management structure and organisation supports the well-being of children waseffective in just three fifths (9) of the settings.

The report shows that the aspects of the provision that were most effective were the qualityof personal care and the extent to which relationships with children and the environmentsupported childrens development. Nonetheless, inspectors identified weaknesses in relationto these two areas in a quarter to a third of the settings evaluated.

Raising Standards through Registration, Regulation and Inspection

The regulatory framework within the Child Care (Pre-School Services) Regulations 2006 areconcerned with minimum standards and are weighted heavily on the side of environmental

and health and safety requirements. The regulations are essentially a license to practice, anddo not include sufficient incentives to train, employ qualified staff or continually improveexpertise. Irelands regulatory framework is weak in comparison to other countries as theycontain minimum standards and not indicators of quality.

The inspection system requires an overhaul to enable a fit for purpose regulation system forall early childhood services. This includes a review of areas such as the expertise andbackground of pre-school inspectors, the regulation of all childcare services, a system ofregistration and de-registration and the continuation of State funding being linked to theoutcome of inspections.

Fianna Fil proposes that, under the provision of the Child and Family Support Agency, theremit of HIQA should be extended to be responsible for all child-related services. Fianna Fail

believes that there is a need for an independent watchdog to restore public confidence inearly childcare and education services.

Childminding

The Child Care Act 1991 exempts three categories of carer from pre-school regulations arelative of the child, anyone caring for children from one family or anyone caring for three orfewer children of different families. Unfortunately, these exemptions cover a high number ofpaid childminders and the system is open to manipulation.

Nearly 50,000 children are minded by childminders every day but most of these 19,000childminders are unregulated. At the end of 2011, there were only 257 childminders(approximately 1%) notified to the HSE and therefore subject to the HSE inspection process


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(Start Strong, 2011). Many parents are faced with no choice other than to use unregulatedforms of childcare, mainly due to cost and accessibility, leaving parents, children and thechildminders themselves vulnerable and unprotected.

Fianna Fil proposes that requirements for all paid childminders should be proportionate tocentre based services and requirements should include Garda vetting and training, includingchild protection training. Including childminders in a registration system will allow acomprehensive inspection of the service prior to operation. In relation to child protection

concerns alone, the current situation which allows childminders to remain outside theregulatory framework cannot be allowed to continue.

School Age Childcare

Similar to childminders, School Age Childcare Services do not fall under the Child Care (Pre-School Services) Regulations 2006. The afterschool sector in Ireland remains self-regulated,resulting in variable standards of provision. Initiatives to develop School Age Childcareprovision were beginning to emerge under the National Childcare Investment Programme2000-2006. The most significant report on school aged childcare is Developing School-AgeChildcare(2005) published by the Department of J ustice, Equality and Law Reform (DJ ELR).

The report put forward a series of recommendations for the School Aged Childcare sector,including an amendment to the primary legislation (Child Care Act 1991) to enable the

statutory regulation of school age childcare provision.

Raising Standards through Policy Activation

Ireland now has at its disposal a range of contemporary, forward thinking policy and practiceframeworks on which to build quality early childhood education including:

Solta, the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education Aistear , the Early Chi ldhood Curriculum Framework A Workforce Development Plan for the Early Childhood Education Secto r The Literacy and Numeracy for Learning and Life

However, the absence of a properly resourced implementation plan for the national roll-out oftraining and professional development opportunities relating to each policy has resulted inlittle impact on the quality of provision for young children. While the Free Pre-School Yearwas a very positive step forward, quality across early childhood services remains variable.Measures to improve quality have largely focused on the Free Pre-School Year, with almostno support for the development of quality services for children under the age of 3.

Early Childhood Policy: Solta, Aistear andthe National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy

The development of Solta arose from one of the main objectives of the White Paper on Early

Education published by the then Department of Education and Science in 1999 and waslaunched in 2006. Even though it is one of the key mandates of the Early Years Policy Unit,to date, only a small percentage of early childhood settings nationally (134 services out of4,300 services nationally) have participated in a formal engagement process involvingimplementing the Solta Quality Assurance Programme. An evaluation of the Solta pilotprogramme commissioned by the DES provided a series of recommendations for the futureroll out of the Solta framework in December 2011. To date there has been no visibleevidence of any of these recommendations being progressed.

Aistearwas developed by the National Council of Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) andwas launched in 2009. Even though the development of Aistear was commissioned by theDES, to date neither the NCCA, DES nor the Early Years Policy Unit have taken

responsibility for the implementation of the framework. To date, there has been no national


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training or implementation strategy or resource package to support the roll-out ofAistear tothe early childhood sector.

By comparison, work is well underway by the DES in relation to the implementation of Aistearin primary schools. Since the 2010/2011 school year and through collaboration between theNCCA and the Association of Teachers' Education Centres in Ireland, support initiatives havebeen implemented to enable primary school teachers and principals to become familiar withthe key ideas in Aistear. This support is provided primarily through a suite of Aistear

workshops, developed and facilitated by Aistear Tutors (primary school teachers) within the21 fulltime Education Centres throughout the country. Up to the end of 2012, a total of 322two hour workshops provided support to 5,977 teachers and principals. In addition, a total of827 teachers were supported through 38 Aistear summer courses in 2011 and 2012.

(Response to Parliamentary Question 14th March, 2013. Ref:13479/13).

The National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy views early education as playing a central rolein the formation of literacy and numeracy skills and includes recommendations aimed atraising many aspects of the quality of provision of early care and education. The strategystates that the ECCE workforce needs to continue to become more skilled and qualified if thechallenging targets associated with supporting the development of early literacy andnumeracy are to be achieved.

At its launch in 2011, the Government stated that the National Literacy and NumeracyStrategy is a key priority and will cost approximately 6.5 million in 2013. What is notforthcoming is the portion of funding, if any, that has been allocated to its implementation inthe early childhood sector.

In addition, the criteria within funding contracts for the ECCE Scheme has created a qualitydivide in relation to requirements for early childhood provision as only those servicesdelivering the free pre-school year are required to have minimum training levels and use thecurriculum and quality frameworks, Siolta and Aistear.

Fianna Fil believe that there should be no distinction drawn between preschool provision for35 year-olds for which educational qualifications are required, and provision for 03 year

olds for which training requirements are either absent or are primarily concerned with careand safety at the expense of child development and learning.

Strengthening Linkages between Pre-School and Primary Schools

As Solta, Aistear and the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy were designed todovetail both the pre-school and primary school sectors, it is essential that both sectorsdevelop meaningful and effective linkages. When children are moving from one setting toanother, it is imperative that there is collaboration and cooperation between all parties toensure effective information sharing and to make transitions as smooth as possible forchildren and parents.

To ensure effective information sharing and to provide continuity of learning from pre-schoolto primary school, Fianna Fil proposes the development of a national transition statement tobe prepared by the pre-school service as part of the conditions of participating in the ECCEScheme. This is particularly important to support the transition of children with specialeducational needs from one setting to another.


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Policy Actions1. The GDP ratio in relation to investment in early childhood care and education is

incrementally increased over the next 10 years.

2. Move responsibility for early childhood care and education to a single GovernmentDepartment to promote cohesion.

3. Amend the Child Care Act 1991, to ensure that all non-relative, paid childminders andSchool Aged Childcare Services are subject to inspection

4. Amend Child Protection Legislation (Children First Bill) to include paid childminders

5. Under the provision of the Child and Family Support Agency, the remit of HIQA shouldbe extended to be responsible for all child-related services.

6. Develop a registration process that requires those who wish to operate an ECCEservice, including Childminders and School Age Childcare Services to showcompliance with all statutory requirements. This will include inspection and approvalprior to opening a service and a de-registration process for those who fail to meetstandards.

7. Amend the current model of inspection, which is compliance based, and replace it witha model which is based on the outcomes for children. This should include apredominant focus on the quality of services in terms of their provision for childlearning, development and well-being.

8. The Child Care (Pre-School Services) Regulations 2006 should be amended to includemandatory training levels for early childhood staff including compulsory training on childprotection (see objective 2).

Actions for Practical Implementation

1. The educational and pedagogical components of childcare service inspections areconducted by early childhood experts with expertise and qualifications in earlychildhood education.

2. A weighted system of compliance that differentiates between minor and more seriousbreaches of the Child Care Regulations is included in the revised inspection reportformat.

3. Funding criteria is amended by DCYA to ensure that Siolta and Aistear apply to allsections of the early childhood service from birth to six years of age.

4. Resources are provided through the local early childhood support agencies fordedicated personnel to support on the ground, early childhood practice, including theprovision of mentoring supports, Aistear training and pre-validation support for Solta

accreditation.5. Local and national childcare support agencies collaborate to carry out information

initiatives to encourage childminders to register and to encourage parents to avail ofthe services of registered childminders.

6. Local and national early childhood support agencies collaborate to provide aninformation campaign aimed at parents on the benefits of high quality early childhoodeducation and what to look for in a high quality service.

7. The Early Years Policy Unit should develop a Standardised Transition Statement to beprepared by the pre-school service as part of the conditions of participating in theECCE Scheme to assist the transition process between pre-school and primary school.


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OBJECTIVE 2:

Supporting and Professionalising the EarlyChildhood Workforce


1. A Professional Early Childhood Training Fund designed to take a whole centre

approach to the training and professional development of the early childhoodworkforce

2. As a condition of funding schemes, working conditions for the early childhood

work force are improved to include incentivised remuneration, paid non-contacttime and an allocation of conti nuing professional development days

3. Mandatory training levels are included in childcare regulations

4. Existing childcare and education training programmes are reviewed and fit forpurpose.

Context

National and international research has established that the skills and qualifications of adultsworking with young children is a critical factor in determining the quality of young childrensearly learning experiences. The levels of effective early childhood care and education in earlychildhood services depends on having highly skilled and trained staff, and a high ratio of staffto children.

Pobal, which administers the childcare support programmes on behalf of the Department ofChildren and Youth Affairs, compiles an Annual Survey of the Early Childhood Sector. Forthe 2012 approximately 3,137 of these services (out of over 4,300) responded and providedinformation on the level of training/qualifications of 12,838 staff working directly with children.


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The survey established that the level of staff qualifications for those services who respondedcan be categorised as follows: Level 4 - 2.1%, Level 5 - 39.4%, Level 6 - 34.8%, Level 7- 4.9%, Level 8 - 6.3%, Level 9/10 - 0.7%, Primary Teaching Qualification - 0.5%; Up to86.6% of staff working directly with children have qualifications equal to or higher thanFETAC Level 5 on the National Framework of Qualification. (Response to ParliamentaryQuestion reference 32237/13)

In 2010, Fianna Fil introduced minimum qualification requirements for early childhood staff

under the Free Pre-School Year Scheme. However, these qualification requirements havenot been extended beyond those delivering the free pre-school year and even at that, onlythe pre-school leader must be qualified to the minimum level. Fianna Fil proposes that nowis the time to build on this and that a graduate-led, professional workforce is essential inorder to achieve high quality standards in the education and care of young children, inkeeping with quality provision internationally.

As a consequence of the lack of implementation of the national early childhood curriculumframework (see objective 1), engagement with Aistear in a practical sense is a challenge forthe workforce due to the lack of training opportunities to support the implementation of thecurriculum. Training organisations are slow to include Aistear in ECCE training contentleading to poor levels of student knowledge and awareness. The situation is further

compounded by poor linkages between the pre-school and primary school sectors wherethere is inconsistency of professional development and supports between the two sectors.

By enlarge, the ad-hoc nature of implementing Solta and Aistear has been furthercompromised by creating a quality divide in relation to requirements for early childhoodprovision as only those services delivering the free pre-school year are required to implementthe curriculum and quality frameworks Siolta andAistear. Anecdotal evidence suggests thatthis has resulted in the least qualified and experienced staff working with children under 3years old.

Creating Professional Pathways for the Early Childhood Workforce

To date, little has been done to provide professional pathways or financial support to enablethose working in the early childhood sector to engage with an increasingly demanding role aspart of a rapidly evolving sector. Fianna Fil proposes that in the interim period at least,childcare funding programmes are an important conduit for improving quality standardsthrough pre-determined conditions for participation. This includes adopting consistent staffingrequirements across State funded early childhood services.

The Workforce Development Plan for the Early Childhood Care and Education Sector inIreland was launched by Barry Andrews in November 2010. The document is the culminationof a significant process of research and consultation across the diverse range ofstakeholders in the sector. That process has resulted in the identification of a number ofagreed perspectives on the type of workforce needed to support the development of highquality ECCE service in Ireland.

To activate the recommendations of the Workforce Development Plan, Fianna Fil proposesthe development of a Professional Early Childhood Training Fund to incentivise a wholeservice quality improvement initiative. Under this initiative, early childhood service providers,in collaboration with local or national support services, would carry out a baselineassessment of the training needs of their whole team including management, staff andcommittee members where appropriate. On the basis of this information, early childhoodservice providers make application to the fund to address training needs in areas such asearly childhood care and education, working with children with special needs, leadership andmanagement and effective governance.

Allocations are made on a priority basis targeting the lowest qualified teams within earlychildhood services. As part of the funding contract, early childhood service providers would

be expected to improve terms of employment where necessary, including the remuneration


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of staff in line with the level of qualification; particularly when availing of the higher capitationrate. Funding allocations should carry a weighting system for community and privately runearly childhood services.

The Role of State Funded Training Agenciesin Improving Quality Standards

Training organisations offering accredited childcare training programmes have a crucial roleto play in ensuring the high standard of training on offer. Training organisations need to befully committed to providing the best quality training programmes for the early childhoodworkforce. Those facilitating programmes must hold the appropriate skills, experience andqualifications and regularly access continuing professional development themselves to keepupdated in early childhood policy and practice. Quality assurance standards should beconsistently applied and all early childhood care and education programme content shouldbe current, relevant and fit for purpose.

Training organisations should also ensure that there are sufficient places available on parttime courses so that the early childhood workforce can combine work and study whileprogressing to levels 7 and above on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). Systems

of Recognition for Prior Learning (RPL) should be in place to recognise and reward the skillsbase developed by staff working in the sector over a number of years who require formallyrecognised qualifications.

Policy Actions1. The development of a Professional Early Childhood Training Fund for the early

childhood workforce with targeted, proportionally allocated funding and pre-determinedconditions for participation.

2. Through an amendment to the Child Care Pre-School Services Regulations 2006,include mandatory training levels including training in child protection for each memberof staff. In the interim period, DCYA should extend qualification requirements to allages within early childhood services, not just the Free Pre-School Year.

3. Revise the conditions of childcare programme funding contracts as an incentive toraising quality standards for the early childhood workforce as follows:ensure higher capitation rates are passed on to staff through an agreed salary scalefor the early childhood workforce in line with qualifications, levels of experience and jobresponsibilitymake provision that all early childhood services have 3 days for continuingprofessional development included in the allocation of days being fundedNon-contact time apportioned to hours worked by staff to facilitate obligations aroundrecord keeping, observations, planning and team meetings.

4. As a quality assurance measure, the Early Years Policy Unit should provide clear

stipulations to training providers offering accredited early childhood care and educationprogrammes around a required criteria for the delivery of such programmes includingexpertise, qualifications and experience.


1. 1. A Childcare and Education Training Fund should take a targeted approach to raisingqualification levels of the early childhood workforce across all roles includingmanagement and leadership

2. Services in receipt of State funding should actively engage quality developmentexpertise through local or national early childhood support agencies as appropriate.


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3. To assist the development of professional pathways for the early childhood workforce,a consistent model of staffing requirements should be adopted by early childhoodservices as follows:

Early childhood services are supervised and led by a graduate in early childhood careand education with a minimum of 3 years experience in a supervisory role, inclusive ofboth services for 0-3 year olds and pre-school children.

For larger early childhood services, each service component within the early

childhood service (babies, pre-school, afterschool) is supervised and led by a graduatein early childhood care and education with a minimum of 3 years experience in asupervisory role.

Each room is led by an early childhood educator with a minimum FETAC Level 6 inearly childhood care and education.

Early childhood support staff should have a minimum FETAC Level 5 in earlychildhood care and education with modules in special needs and pedagogical practicebeing mandatory components of early childhood training programmes.


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OBJECTIVE 3:

Enabling the Inclusion of Children with SpecialEducational Needs in Early Childhood Services

Key recommendations:1. The implementation of the EPSEN Act (2004)

2. The development of a National Inclusion Policy for the early childhood sector

3. HSE employed SEN Assis tants for the early childhood sector through anaccessible support structure

4. Flexible models of early childhood provision to support the inclusion of childrenwith more severe and complex needs including a system of dual placement

throughout the country to meets child rens individual learning needs

5. The provision o f a second full, free pre-school year for chi ldren with SEN

Context

Fianna Fil proposes that every child with a special educational need is enabled to accessearly childhood care and education services and supports the provision of education inintegrated and inclusive environments, rather than specialised settings, unless it is not in thebest interests of the child.

Despite the progress in early childhood care and education from the mid 1990s onwards,efforts to establish inclusive practices have historically focused on children of school goingage. No clear policy or guidelines have emerged for children with special educational needsparticipating in early childhood services, or indeed, who has responsibility for specific


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supports. Supports for children with special needs is therefore largely at the discretion of thelocal HSE resulting in varying levels of service across counties and regions.

Assessment and provision of services for children is set out in interrelated pieces oflegislation the Education Act 1998, the Education for Persons with Special EducationalNeeds Act 2004 (EPSEN), and the Disability Act 2005. The childs right to inclusiveeducation is mandated through educational legislation and the Education Act and EPSENAct focus on schools and school age-children. There is no such mandate for early childhood

care and education.Under the Disability Act, the HSE deals with associated care needs. The HSE is alsoresponsible for assessment and referrals to education providers for the pre-school agegroup. With the exception of the EPSEN Act 2004,references to inclusion are implicit ratherthan explicit within the Child Care (Pre-School Services) (Amendment no2) Regulations2006.

In 2006, the National Council for Special Education produced an implementation plan for theEPSEN Act, 2004 but at present, implementation has been deferred. Fianna Fil fullysupports the commitment to a timeline for progress towards the full implementation of theEPSEN Act 2004. This will give statutory rights to children with special educational needs inrelation to assessment, individual education plans, and the right to make appeals.

Pre-School Inclusion in Ireland

While research has highlighted theimportance and benefits of inclusion it hasalso identified numerous barriers which haveto be overcome for inclusion to be successful.

There is evidence that children withdisabilities or special educational needs areunable to access early childhood services.Research carried out by DESSA as part of its

Childcare Inclusion Programme, revealed that21% of services taking part in the researchhad previously turned away a child withspecial educational needs from their service.Reasons given included accessibility, inabilityto meet the childs specific needs and lack oftraining.

Highlighting the importance of effective earlyintervention for children with specialeducational needs, the DES (1999) point to the need for a high quality, intensive and clearlyarticulated programme, delivered by highly skilled and carefully trained personnel in contexts

of small groups and individual instruction, and designed to specifically address individualidentified needs (p.84).

DESSA (2007) and Moloney and McCarthy (2010) both report that early education and careproviders highlight the lack of specific staff training related to disability or special needs as animpediment to inclusion.

The introduction of the Free Pre-School Year has changed the landscape regarding accessto pre-school and to the inclusion of children with special educational needs. However,consultation informs us that there are three main barriers to appropriate participation in theFree Pre-School Year:


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ACCESSIBILITY: Whilst early childhood services are bound by equality legislation, asentitlement to the Free Pre-School Year is universal, being allocated a place is conditional onearly childhood services having spaces locally. Therefore, there is no system in place toensure that children with special educational needs or disabilities can access a place.Resource constraints in the early childhood service may prevent children that require higherstaff ratios in accessing a place over children who do not.

The expansion of flexible models of early childhood provision is required to support the

inclusion of children with more severe and complex needs. This enables a system of dualplacement between specialist and mainstream provision throughout the country to meetschildrens individual learning and support needs.

DURATION: It is occasionally unclear at the beginning of the childs first Free-Pre-SchoolYear if he/she will have achieved school readiness by the end of the year. If this is the caseand the child needs a second pre-school year due to developmental delay, parents have onlytwo choices open to them to fund the childs additional time in pre-school or send the childto school.

Although the Free Pre-School Year entitlement can be spread out over two years on a pro-rata basis, this is often disjointed and insufficient for the childs needs and the administrationattached to this process is cumbersome for both parents and pre-school service providers.

To eliminate this problem, Fianna Fil proposes the extension of the Free Pre-School Year toa second, full pre-school year for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

APPROPRIATE TRAINING: The professional capacity of those working with children withSpecial Educational Needs (SEN) is a key ingredient for specialised quality care andeducation. A CECDE report in 2005, notes that the relatively poorly-trained early educationand care workforce contributes to poor practice in relation to adapting the curriculum forchildren with disabilities and special education needs.

At present there is no qualification requirement for those staff working with children withSEN. This in itself is a barrier to inclusion in mainstream early childhood services as staffoften do not have the necessary skills and expertise to enable a child with SEN or a disabilityto participate. The stand alone FETAC Special Needs Module is an optional module and isnot a mandatory part of childcare training.

Taking Responsibility

Under the Disability Act, the HSE is responsible for assessment and referrals to education providersfor the pre-school age group. As part of this responsibility, HSE should be mandated to supply suitablytrained Special Needs Assistants, employed by HSE and allocated to early childhood services asnecessary and appropriate. This could be facilitated through the provision of HSE funded EnableIreland sites to serve each county/region.

Enable Ireland is contracted by the Health Service Executive (HSE) to provide, in an area, services tochildren and their families. Enable Ireland provides free services to children and adults with disabilities

and their families from 40 locations in 14 counties. Covering childhood to adulthood, expert teamswork with the individual and their family. Fianna Fil proposes that this model is provided consistentlyacross the country to enable children and families to access support services at each stage of thechilds life.

A bank of trained and experienced SEN personnel should be held at local level in the HSE/EnableIreland to facilitate the provision of a qualified and experienced panel of specialist personnel asrequired for mainstream early childhood work positions.


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Policy Actions1. Commit to a timeline for progress towards the full implementation of the EPSEN Act, 2004

in accordance with the National Council for Special Education Implementation Plan 2006.2. Develop a National Inclusion Policy for mainstream early childhood services including

clear policy aims in relation to the inclusion of children with disabilities and therequirements on services. This should include guidelines on how early childhood servicesshould liaise with Public Health Nurses, with primary schools, as well as with specialist

supports such as Speech and Language Therapists.3. Provide a second, full Free Pre-School year is provided for all children in need of SENsupports.

4. The services provided by Enable Ireland should be accessible to all counties across thecountry.

5. HSE should be mandated to supply suitably trained Special Needs Assistants, employedby HSE and allocated to early childhood services as necessary and appropriate.

6. Establish flexible models of early childhood provision to support the inclusion of childrenwith more severe and complex needs including the expansion of specialist earlyintervention settings to promote a system of dual placement where appropriate.

7. The Professional Early Childhood Training Fund (See Objective 2) would include as apriority, funding for training to enable the early childhood workforce to provide fully

inclusive experiences for children.


1. A national inclusion implementation plan for the ECCE sector that should include aspriority:An accurate and up to date SEN database on the numbers of children with SEN bothdiagnosed and undiagnosed in each region to ensure services are meeting needs andresponding to changing needs.The development of a coherent training policy to ensure an adequate supply ofpersonnel equipped to deal with young children with disabilities and special educationalneeds.Establishment of a National Professional Early Years Inclusion Support Service. It isproposed that this service would work at local and regional level with CCCs, NCOs, HSEand the National Disability Agencies to provide training and support to childcare providersand pre-school special needs assistants.

2. Access to support, advice and referral pathways through accessible Enable Ireland sitesincluding SEN Assistants are responsible in liaison with disability specialists to develop acoordinated support plan for children with special educational needs

3. The allocation of supports should be made on the basis of clearly defined eligibility criteriawith a broad range of referral routes (GP, PHN, Early Intervention Team). Assessment ofneed rather than establishing a diagnosis should be the focus of assessment for earlychildhood SEN supports.

4. DCYA should ensure that early childhood services in receipt of government funding havea fully inclusive admissions criterion that stipulates that no child with special educationalneeds can be excluded and that parents are actively informed of this criterion.

5. Efficient and informative pre-school to primary school transition mechanisms should beput in place to assist the childs transition from pre-school to primary school to enableinformation sharing, a continuation of learning and specialist supports.

6. A mandatory SEN training requirement is introduced into FETAC Childcare Programmes7. A bank of trained and experienced SEN personnel should be held at local level in the HSE

to facilitate the provision of a qualified and experienced panel of specialist personnel asrequired for mainstream early childhood work positions.


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OBJECTIVE 4:

Providing Accessible and AffordableChildcare to Working Parents

Key recommendations:1. A Government Commissioned Cost Analysis of Childcare in Ireland includ ing

cost relief proposals for working parents

2. An extens ion o f paid materni ty leave to one year

3. A j oint trans fer rable paid parental leave p lan, based on the ex ist ing materni tyleave entitlements as an interim measure

4. The development of School Aged Childcare Provis ion.

Context

There is a massive disincentive in Ireland for parents to return to paid employment due to thehigh cost of childcare, limited maternity leave and the lack of universal supports.

The costs for childcare services in Ireland are among the highest in Europe making the issueof affordability a constant issue for parents. High costs can also drive working parents toavail of lower cost unregulated childcare services for their children. Figures from OECD(2007) show that for a typical dual-earner family seeking full-day care for two children, thecost is between 29% and 35% of the familys net income and more than 50% of the netincome of a lone parent family. This is in stark contrast to the OECD average of 12-14% forboth dual income and lone parent families.


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The National Consumer Agency Childcare Price Survey (2011) found the average cost of fulltime care for a toddler was 181 per week (Ranging from 145 to 220 per week acrossservices nationally).

In addition, the provision of School Age Childcare is seriously underdeveloped in Ireland. Asstatutory regulations do not apply to the provision of School Age Childcare, the sector inIreland remains self-regulated, resulting in provision being ad hoc, expensive and varying inquality.

Childcare costs can exceed mortgage payments as the largest monthly bill for families withyoung children. This increased strain means thousands of working parents, particularlymothers, face a stark choice of quitting work because of the high cost of childcare, orcontinuing their careers while losing money.

Parental Leave Enti tlements and Childcare Policy

Parental leave entitlements and childcare policy are clearly interlinked. In 2008, UNICEF, inputting forward 10 minimum standards for early childhood supports included the entitlementto one year paid parental leave at 50% of salary or more.

Evidence from the most recent Growing Up in Ireland Report which focussed on mothersreturn to work and childcare choices for infants in Ireland (2013), suggests that paidmaternity leave is an effective instrument influencing the duration of sole parental care. Thereport suggests that the extension of paid maternity leave would be a successful policystrategy in promoting and extending parental care in the first year of a childs life.

In recent times, the present government has indicated their intention to develop a childcaresystem similar to that of Scandinavian countries. Fianna Fil welcomes this intention asScandinavian countries are considered the forerunners in designing family-friendly policies.Historically, their lead in this arena originated decades ago when the state started interveningin trying to alleviate the conflicts between motherhood and work life.

Sweden, in particular, has led the way internationally in investing in childcare policies to

support quality, affordable childcare. In the Swedish system, generous parental leave of 16months per child, at 80% pay with the cost shared between employer and State, is viewed asa complement to the development and expansion of the childcare system.

Recent OECD and UNICEF analyses indicate, Scandinavian countries consistently fareamong the best internationally on all the indicators of childrens wellbeing.

Parental Leave in Ireland

In Ireland there is a significant gap between the cessation of paid maternity leave (26 weeks)and the commencement of the Free Pre-School Year when a child is at the earliest 3 yearsand 2 months. During the time a mothers maternity leave expires and the child commences

pre-school, there are no tax incentives or cost relief available to help meet childcare costs.As a means of both alleviating the cost of childcare and of strengthening overall childcarepolicy, Fianna . Estimated costs associated with an extension of paid maternity benefit to 52weeks, based on the last full year confirmed expenditure available, is 300m in a full year(Parliamentary Question, Ref. 33235-13).

The progression of this policy would have a complementary effect on areas such as parentalchoice, work life balance and child well being. The extension of paid maternity leave wouldminimise the need and cost of childcare in the childs first year and allow young children tospend the crucial first year of life in parental care.


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Moving Towards Shared Parental Leave

Ireland is one of the few countries that does not offer fathers some form of paternity leave onthe birth or adoption of a child. The Growing Up in Ireland Report which focussed on mothersreturn to work and childcare choices for infants in Ireland (2013) revealed that take up ofunpaid parental leave by fathers, was very low. Fianna Fil propose that an interim solutionis a joint transferable paid parental leave plan, based on existing maternity leave, withoutcompromising any of its benefits.

Fianna Fil has already brought legislation forward in this regard through the Parental LeaveBill 2013 which has passed through the second stage of the Seanad. The purpose of this Billis to provide for both maternity and paternity leave for parents of a newborn child.

It seeks to amend Part II of the Maternity Protection Act 1994 to provide an entitlement tomaternity or paternity leave after the birth of an employees child. The provides that apregnant employee and the father of that pregnant employees child shall not be permitted totake maternity or paternity leave at the same time but that they shall be permitted to sharebetween them the minimum period of maternity or paternity leave.

This practice is currently in effect in many other EU countries, and is one which washighlighted by Irelands Equality Authority, an independent body set up under the

Employment Equality Act 1998, believing that a mother should have the right to assign aportion of her maternity leave to her spouse or partner, thereby providing greater flexibility forthe family in making childcare arrangements.

Existing Supports for ChildcareThe part-time free pre-school place available for every child in the year before primary schooloffers limited support to parents in terms of the overall cost of childcare as the scheme islimited to 3 hours per day, for 38 weeks in one year.

Outside the universal Free Pre-School Year, existing government supports for childcare inIreland (see appendix 2) are greatest for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

However, research evidence shows that whilst benefits are greatest for children fromdisadvantaged backgrounds, all children benefit from high quality early childhood care andeducation.

One of the criticisms levelled at the Community Childcare Subvention Scheme is that it goesagainst the principles of social inclusion because it may lead to community childcare servicesbeing forced to either fully support welfare dependent children and parents, or adopt a fullycommercial approach.

This fact contradicts the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007 2016, which claimsthat 'Research in Ireland andinternationally confirms that poverty rates for children in joblessfamilies aresubstantially higher than in those where one or both parents work. Therefore,policies that strongly support parents into employment will have a major impact on childpoverty.'

Providing Solutions to alleviate cost will have multiple benefits

Subsidised childcare needs to be made available to working parents. This should be eitheras a tax deductible expense or through subvented fee structures based on parents ability topay. Of course, there would also be costs parents already at work and paying for childcarewould pay less tax but contributory factors such as increasing the tax taken through theregulation of informal childcare, increased employment opportunities for women and a fit forpurpose evaluation of current childcare supports would help balance these costs.


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Providing realistic solutions to this crippling anomaly presents a valuable opportunity, as itwould make it possible for many parents to return to paid work;

1. Increased work opportunities for women would create additional jobs in professionalchildcare and if the system was shaped appropriately, it would bring some of thoseworking in childcare from the informal to the formal sector.This is essential to collectingtaxes and providing those workers with social insurance.

2. The benefits of regulation and support for the Childminding and School Age Childcare

sectors would strengthen the accessibility of services and address issues aroundquality standards and child protection;

3. Current childcare funding schemes for parents such as the Community ChildcareSubvention Scheme could be reviewed and evaluated in terms of value for money andbeing fit for purpose in todays economic climate.

4. Increased employment opportunities would provide meaningful outcomes to thecourses currently on offer by State training agencies (for example as supported by theChildcare Education and Training Scheme).

Policy Actions1. An incremental extension of statutory paid maternity leave from 26 weeks to 52 weeks

by 2016.2. The adoption of a joint transferrable paid parental leave plan based on the existing

maternity leave entitlements.3. Include paid childminders and school age childcare services in the Child Care (Pre-

School Services) Regulations 2006.4 A capital funding programme is developed to incentivise the development of regulated

school age childcare services.5. A government commissioned examination and analysis of existing childcare funding

programmes and their ability to support and incentivise working families including:An accurate analysis of the cost of childcare in different parts of the country. This isobtainable through information submitted to DCYA in order to access funding schemes.An analysis of current childcare funding programmes in relation to their ability tosupport working families. In particular, a review of the CCS Scheme, in terms of valuefor money, sustainability and being fit for purpose in todays financial climate (increasein eligibility due to unemployment, increase in medical card allocations).Practical solutions, including for example an equitable, tiered scale of tax relief forchildcare, taking into account income and number of children.or

Childcare costs subvented at source based on parents ability to pay.


The following criteria should be put in place by the DCYA for availing of subvented childcare

fees or tax relief: Measures are incorporated to ensure that only parents who avail of childcare services,

registered under and compliant with the Child Care (Pre-School Services) Regulations2006 can avail of subvented rates/childcare tax relief.

Measures are incorporated to prevent childcare service providers hiking costs toparents where childcare is tax deductible.


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OBJECTIVE 5:

Tackling Obesity in Early Childhood


1. A National Obesity Prevention and Treatment Strategy outlining responsibilit ies

for all stakeholders

2. The further development of exist ing obesity prevention and treatmentprogrammes

3. The development of a Healthy Flag Initiative for early ch ildhood services

4. The availability of outdoor play spaces as a mandatory requirement, for newearly childhood services

5. The inclusion of requirements for physical activity, nutrition, and exposure to

digital media incorporated into the Child Care (Pre-School Services) Regulations2006.

Context

Childhood obesity is a highly complex issue with far reaching consequences for children,their families, future generations and Irelands health care system. According to a submissionto the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children, the cost of adult obesity to the state isin excess of 1 billion euro per annum. The average child who is obese (of whom there are100,000 in Ireland), if left untreated costs in the region of5,000 per year as a direct cost oftreating related complications in paediatric centres (2013).

There are multiple stakeholders involved in tackling obesity including the food industry,media and advertising industries and the various elements of the education sector. FiannaFil proposes that all key stakeholders are required by government to play a role in


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addressing childhood obesity through the direction of a National Obesity Prevention andTreatment Strategy.

Childhood Obesity in Ireland

A presentation to the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children in J une 2013 revealedthat recent figures show that 31.8 % of Irish 7 year olds are either overweight or obese. That

is more than 1: 4 of our school children. This translates to 100,000 children who are obeseand 300,000 children who are overweight in Ireland, with 70% of these children likely tobecome obese adults.

The problem begins in childhood- currently 6% of 3 year olds are obese. This ranks Ireland in5th place among 27 EU countries and the situation is steadily getting worse.

In November 2011, Growing Up in Ireland The National Longitudinal Study of Children,published a major report from the study on obesity among children in Ireland. Growing Up inIreland Overweight and Obesity Among 9-Year-Olds examines the patterns of overweightand obesity among children in Ireland. Key findings include:

Low levels of physical exercise and high levels of sedentary activities are both

associated with a higher risk of overweight and obesity. Boys watching television for 3+ hours on an average school night were 4.2 times morelikely to be obese than boys watching less than an hour of TV on average. Girlswatching 3+ hours of television were 1.75 times more likely to be obese.

Childhood weight issues are associated with significantly lower self-esteem aroundphysical appearance and popularity and worse emotional and behavioural problems.

The Role of Early Childhood Education in Tackl ing Obesity

There is a growing recognition that early childhood has emerged as a critical period forassessing the beginnings of obesity and instigating preventive measures. During infancy and

early childhood, lifestyle behaviours that promote obesity are just being learned and it iseasier to establish new behaviours than to change existing ones.

Parents play the primary role in shaping childrens development and influencing their obesityrisk through genetics and home environments. However, early childhood service providershave a crucial role to play in developing positive health choices in very young children in away that complements and supports parents efforts to maintain healthy weight in their youngchildren. According to the Growing Up In Ireland Report (2011), young children spendsubstantial amounts of time in early childhood education services in Ireland:

50% of three year olds were in some form of non-parental childcare for eight or morehours a week. The most common form used was centre-based childcare which almosttripled between nine months and three years, from 11% to 30%

A similar percentage of grandparents were caring for children at both nine months andthree years, 12% and 11% respectively. A total of 10% of three-year-olds were beingminded by a childminder

Children who were in some form of non-parental childcare were spending an averageof 23 hours a week in their main type of childcare.

A number of key factors influence the risk for obesity in an infant or young child, includingprenatal influences, eating patterns, physical activity and sedentary behaviour, and also,sleep patterns, marketing and digital media. Young children are dependent on parents,caregivers, and others to provide environments that can help shape these factors in positiveways by, for example, supporting the development of lifestyle behaviours that promotegrowth and development, making healthy foods available in appropriate amounts, and

providing safe places for active play.


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Therefore early childhood services have a fundamental role to play in devising policies andstrategies to empower children and their parents to make healthy, nutritional and lifestylechoices.

Tackling the Problem of Childhood Obesity through EarlyIntervention Programmes

Although no single initiative or action alone will reverse the trend of early childhood obesity, acombination of measures adopted by early childhood services in partnership with parents willhave a significant impact. Early intervention initiatives that partner early childhood services,parents and children can have a significant impact.

Fianna Fil recommend the further development and availability of programmes developed inthe community which reflect evidence of best practice such as Up4it! which is a CrossBorder Prevention and Management Childhood Obesity Programmes led out by CAWT (Co-operation and Working Together) and currently funded as part of Interreg funding.

Fianna Fil proposes the introduction of a Health Promotion Flag Initiative facilitated by theHSE Health Promotions Department. Participating early childhood services would receive a

recognised award in return of evidence of health promotion activities as part of the overallpolicy of the service. This would include a strong emphasis on partnership with parents.

Supporting existing early childhood services to adopt an ethos of health promotion includingPhysical Activity, Healthy Eating, a Well-being Curriculum Theme and Marketing and Mediais also an effective early intervention mechanism.

Physical Activity

Over the past 20 years, society has changed inmultiple ways that have reduced the demandfor physical activity and increased the time

children spend in sedentary pursuits. Increasingphysical activity and reducing sedentarybehaviour are logical and accepted strategiesfor maintaining energy balance and preventingexcessive weight gain.

All children should have access to outdoor playon a daily basis. However, currently there is norequirement within the childcare regulations toprovide an outdoor play space or mandatoryperiods of outdoor play for pre-school children.

Healthy Eating

A child develops food preferences byresponding to what he or she is fed andobserving adults; the availability of food in theimmediate environment also plays a role. Because food offered to young children isdetermined by caregivers, they should make every effort to introduce children to healthyfoods and lifestyle habits from infancy onward. Children who have early experiences witheating healthy foods are more likely to prefer and consume those foods and to have dietarypatterns that promote healthy growth and weight patterns that may then persist in laterchildhood.


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Promoting Well-being through the Early Childhood Curriculum

Aistear the early childhood curriculum has Well-Being as one of its four central themes.Appropriate training in transferring the goals of this theme into practice is facilitated throughaccess to training and professional development opportunities. To ensure children receivenutritionally balanced snacks and meals whilst in early childhood settings, service providersshould provide food in accordance with the Food and Nutrition Guidelines for Pre-SchoolServices, 2004.

Marketing and Media

The lives of young children are permeated by media (e.g., television, videogames, mobilemedia, the Internet). According to the Growing Up In Ireland Report 2009, 11% of childrenwatch television for three or more hours on an average weekday. For young children,decades of research provides strong evidence that marketing works, to establish their foodpreferences and purchase requests. Substantial exposure to television (including anyadvertising) is associated with greater risk of overweight and later obesity, inactivity,decreased metabolic rate, and increased snacking. Limiting total screen time and improvingcontent across the multiple environmentswhere young children spend their time will reduce

both their exposure to foodand beverage marketing and their risk of early childhood obesity.Fianna Fil proposes that as part of a national Obesity Prevention Strategy, the Governmenttake action on the marketing and advertising of products that contribute to weight gain,particularly those aimed at children.

Policy Actions1. A National Obesity Prevention and Treatment Strategy incorporating the health, food,

media, advertising and education sectors as key stakeholders with particularresponsibilities in obesity prevention and treatment.

2. Development of and support to early intervention programmes and initiatives such as aHealth Promotion Flag Initiative and the expansion of existing childhood obesityprevention programmes such as Up4it!

3. Outdoor play space suitable for the number of children to be accommodated as amandatory requirement of registration for new childcare facilities.

4. Addendum added to Regulation 5 (Child Health, Welfare and Development) of theChild Care (Pre-School Services) Regulations 2006

Investing in Tomorrow

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