Department publishes regulations to oversee and register country's childminders

The new rules will give the 13,000 childminders three years to register with Tusla. File picture: iStock

The country's 13,000 childminders are to be regulated and registered by the State for the first time in a matter of days, under new regulations published by the Department of Children.

From September 30, the childminders will be able to apply for registration with child and family agency Tusla, and thereafter will be able to partake in the National Childcare Scheme for the first time.

Amid Ireland’s ongoing childcare crisis, the move to regulate the sector may present an opportunity for registered childminders in areas of the country poorly served by creches and early-years services, department sources said.

The new regulations are a direct result of the National Action Plan for Childminding, which had committed the State to introducing such regulation by 2024.

The European Commission had previously noted in 2019 that Ireland was the only European country with a mostly-unregulated childminding sector.

The new rules will give the 13,000 childminders three years to register with Tusla. Should they fail to do so in that time, enforcement of non-compliance will be a matter for Tusla itself, department officials said.

At present around 53,000 children are cared for by childminders in their own home, translating to 8% of children aged up to four years old, and 4% of those aged from 5-12.

From a parenting perspective, registering with Tusla will allow childminders access to the National Childcare Scheme, the State’s system of subsidised childcare to the tune of €2.14 per hour.

However, department officials said that while those subsidies can be availed of by parents, there will be no cap or guidance as to what each childminder can charge for their services.

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The department said the new regulations are being published for several reasons: to safeguard children; to provide regulatory standards in the industry for the assurance of parents; to allow parents to access the NCS as is already the case with the parents of children in creche, preschool, and aftercare; and to provide “recognition and support” for childminders themselves.

Under the new regulations, which apply to childminders working from their own home only, those registering with Tusla will need to undergo pre-registration training and Garda vetting, and will be expected to hold insurance for their services.

Registered childminders will be allowed to care for a maximum of six children, only two of whom can be under 15 months old. The department noted that live-in nannies or au-pairs remain exempt from the new regulations as in such cases the parent is deemed to be the employer.

Applying to be registered will not prevent a working childminder from continuing to care for children while the registration is being processed, the department said. The new regulations also have no required curriculum for a childminder, nor do they demand fixed operating hours, sleeping times or meal plans for the children being cared for.

Department sources made clear that the benefits of the new regulations will not be immediate. “This will take time, even to make sure they all (childminders) know about it,” one official said.

Tusla will hold the responsibility for providing updates as to the progress of registrations going forward, the department said.