The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman has announced the launch of a public consultation on new regulations governing the childminding sector which are due to commence in September 2024.
Regulations are an official recognition from the State that demonstrates that childminders are a valued part of early learning and childcare in Ireland. Regulations set out safe-guarding measures for children. These regulations will enable all childminders to register with Túsla and offer access to the childcare funding schemes for the families that use their services.
As part of the public consultation process, the Department want to hear from Parents and give them an opportunity to have their say. I would be very grateful if you could send this email to the Parent contacts in your organisation.
The consultation will begin with a survey, which can be found here: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/aed77959-7825-b278-c220-df264c5b5748
I would advise that you read the draft regulations before completing the survey. These can be found at the following link. :https://www.gov.ie/en/consultation/2071d-public-consultation-on-the-draft-childminding-regulations/
There will be an opportunity for focus groups which we will advise you of as soon as we have the dates.
Thank you for your assistance.
Kind regards,
Karen Folan
Regional Childminding Development Officer
Sligo County Childcare Committee
Unit 5, Neighbourhood Centre,
Rusheen Ard,
Caltragh,
Sligo.
F91 YY04