The Heads and General Scheme of the Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2023 is recently proposed legislation that seeks to give Tusla stronger regulatory powers over Early Years and School Aged Child Services. The amendment has been approved for drafting and will appear before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children, Disability, Equality and Integration in the coming weeks for pre-legislative scrutiny.
Below are some key points from the prosed legislation:
- It will see the development of a single register for all early years and school age child services.
- Tusla will have the power to temporarily suspend or close registered providers in cases of serious non-compliances or when there are significant concerns about the provision of the services and if there is potential risk of harm to the children attending.
- Registered providers can be removed from the register when they have failed to renew their registration and court orders can be sought by Tusla for the closure of unregistered services.
- Legislative power will be given to Tusla to enforce immediate action notices and improvement notices. Tusla will also have the authority to publish notices and orders. The registered provider may be requested to bring notices and orders to the attention of those affected such as parents or guardians.
- It will set out regulations for service providers and those involved in the management of the service to be deemed a “fit person”. Tusla will have the power to refuse an application or remove a service provider from the registration if they do not meet the “fit person” criteria. This allows Tusla to construct a more comprehensive assessment on the service provider in addition to their Garda vetting disclosure.
Childminders
The legislation bill proposes that Garda Vetting for childminders will be introduced. This includes the vetting of other adults who may be present in the home at the same time as the children. The bill includes a definition of a “childminding service” and outlines specific regulations which will allow a transitional period of three years for childminders to register with Tusla. After the transitional period anyone operating or intending to operate a childminding service must apply for registration with Tusla under the new arrangement. Those who wish to keep their existing arrangements will be considered a single person operator of an early years service and they will no longer be recognised as a childminder.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns about this new piece of legislation, please do give us a call and we would be happy to support you at info@canavanbyrne.ie or 01 6235908.
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