Taken from Pobals Website, this is an all about Subvention FAQ. I hope this helps somebody
Frequently Asked Questions Answers to Questions
1. What is the NCIP CCSS? The Community Childcare Subvention Scheme (CCSS) is a scheme to grant aid Community-based (not-for-profit) childcare services to enable them to provide childcare to disadvantaged parents at reduced costs.
2. What will be included in the Information Pack? Each EOCP beneficiary will be sent an Information Pack by the Office of the Minister for Children (OMC), which will include a letter from the OMC explaining the CCSS, Parental Declaration Form and Provider Summary Sheets.
3. I have not received my Information Pack. Where can I get the documents? All documents that are included in the Information Pack are available from www.pobal.ie
4. When does it come into effect? 1st. January 2008. Transitional Funding will be applied from 1st Jan – 30th June. CCSS will come into effect from 1st July 2008.
5. How is our transitional funding worked out? It is based on your current level of funding and the type of service provided. It will be pro-rata for Jan-June 2008.
6. What happens after our service has been notified of our transitional funding? Pobal will commence the contractual process. Once the signed contract is returned the first payment will be processed.
7. Will there be more money available under this scheme? There is a funding increase of 16% in 2008 bringing the budget up to €47-48million per annum with a further increase to €53-55 million in 2009
8. How will the CCSS differ from the EOCP Staffing grants? The CCSS is exchequer funded while the EOCP received funding from the EU. The CCSS will build on the success of the EOCP while ensuring that there is a more transparent system that targets the money specifically at those most in need.
9. How will the scheme work? /Does the subvention go directly to the service? Payments to groups under CCSS will be made on the basis of the number of parents with children attending their service who are in receipt of Band A or Band B payments. The subvention will be paid directly to the childcare service. The childcare service will then reduce the cost of the childcare place by the relevant subsidy.
10. What about new services? The new rates will apply from 1 January 2008 for new applicants who will have to undergo a quality assessment by the local City or County Childcare Committee before they can be approved. As new services will need to become operational before they can return a parent profile, small start-up grants may be considered. Details from OMC will be confirmed in due course.
11. How are operational hours classified? Since the 5th. September 2007 the new Pre-school Regulations state that up to and including 3 hours 30 minutes is Sessional;
Part-time is from 3 hours 31 minutes up to and including 5 hours;
Full-time is from 5 hours 1 minute and above**
All of the below hours relate to a continuous duration of service.
**’Full-time’ can only refer to pre-school places in a facility notified to the HSE as a full-day care service.
School Aged Childcare Services are not required to notify under the Pre-School Regulations.
12. Can you explain the different bands under the Community Childcare Subvention Scheme and who is eligible under each? There are 2 bands for eligibility – A and B
Band A covers the following Payments
• One-Parent Family Payment
• Widow’s or Widower’s Pension
• Jobseeker’s Benefit or Allowance (previously UB or UA)
• Pre-Retirement Allowance
• Farm Assist
• State Pension (previously OAP or Retirement Pension)
• Blind Pension
• Guardian’s Payment (previously Orphan’s Pension)
• Illness or Injury Benefit
• Disablement Pension
• Invalidity Pension
• Disability Allowance
• Carer’s Benefit or Allowance
• Back to Work/Education Allowance
• Supplementary Welfare Allowance
* Band A also covers CE Schemes and the Rural Social Scheme.
* Medical card holder or a holder of a GP Visit Card are not included in Band A or B at present
Band B covers the following payments
• Family Income Supplement (F.I.S.)
• FAS Training Allowance
• Part-time Job Incentive Scheme
13. What are the new subvention rates?
BAND A BAND B
Age 0-1yrs Age 1yrs + Age 0-1yrs Age 1yrs+
Short-time Service
2 hrs 15 mins - 3 hrs 29 mins €36 €26 €20 €10
Half Day
3hr 30 mins - 4 hrs 59 mins €55 €40 €30 €15
Full Day
5 hrs+ €110 €80 €60 €30
14. If an individual is in receipt of an eligible payment and their partner/spouse is working will they still be entitled to the subvention? Yes. Their partner’s/spouse’s income will not be taken into account for the purposes of this scheme.
15. Is there anything coming on stream for parents not covered by either Band A or Band B Not at the moment, but the Government may examine potential areas for expansion in the future.
16. If a child from a disadvantaged background is referred by and paid for by a publicly funded body e.g. HSE how do we deal with this? You should apply the Band C rate unless the OMC advise differently.
17. Should we give Parent Declaration Forms to all our parents? Yes, parents for which the form applies to will only need to complete and return the form.
18. How can we assure parents of confidentiality? Data protection measures have been put in place to guarantee confidentiality. The information will only be used by the OMC for this scheme. However, forms will be verified by DSFA or FAS.
19. What has the childcare service to do after getting the Declaration Forms back? The service needs to complete a Provider Summary Sheet, which also includes general information in respect of other parents using their service. You should then return the summary sheet and Declaration Forms to the Office of the Minister for Children, Hawkins House, Hawkins St., Dublin 2 by 02 November 2007.
20. What about people with literacy problems or whose first language is not English? Your management committee will need to look at ways to support those with literacy problems. Forms have been designed with simplicity in mind and are available in both English and Irish.
21. When have the Declaration Forms to be submitted? 2nd November 2007 and once a year in September.
22. If parents refuse to return the declaration forms what happens then? The OMC will be unable to subsidise the childcare places attended by children of these parents, therefore it’s important the service supports parents to complete and return the forms. If a service intends to offer childcare places at reduced rates to these parents, the service must use their own funds to fund such reductions.
23. Are there any circumstances where an exemption might apply? Yes. Certain specialised services e.g. services dealing exclusively with children of drug-users may be exempt from this requirement but will still be required to submit whatever information they can collect.
24. What will the OMC be doing with the information gathered on the Parent Declaration Forms? The information on the forms will be used to gather data on the status of the end users of the service to ensure the Scheme meets its objective to target disadvantaged families. It will also be used to work out if the current subventions are adequate.
25. Will this scheme mean more work for us? No, as only one Parental Declaration Form will need to be submitted yearly and financial/impact returns will be bi-annual from 2008.
26. Will we have to set up a new bank account? No. One bank account for the childcare facility will be sufficient under NCIP.
27. What happens during the year if our parental profile changes? There will be an option in the Spring to make another declaration. Anything else can be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
28. If a parent’s status changes during the year, what do we need to do? If there is an increase in the number of parents in receipt of Band A or Band B payments, the group can request a review and seek an upward adjustment.
If there is a decrease in the number of parents in receipt of Band A or Band B payments the subsidy will be maintained to the service until the next submission date. The fee charged to the parent/guardian should be reviewed by the service to take account of the parent’s/guardian’s changed circumstances.
29. If a child leaves the service mid-year, will the money that the service is receiving for that child be recouped by Pobal? No, the subsidy will be maintained until the next submission date.
30. How will we draw down funds under this scheme? Drawdown Procedures will remain the same as EOCP. CCSS returns will be required on a bi-annual basis.
Instalments TBC early 2008
31. What will happen to our service if we can’t meet our operational costs? 1.You will need to raise your fees to reflect the cost price of your service based on the unit cost of a full-time equivalent place.
2.If the difficulty has arisen due to a significant change in your parental profile since the last declaration then a new parental declaration form submission may be appropriate.
32. What happens if we don’t co-operate with the implementation of this scheme? It will mean that your service won’t receive funding under CCSS.
33.
Some of our parents pay monthly, will the scheme allow us to continue collecting fees in this way? We recommend you charge fees on a weekly basis, as it is difficult for people on limited incomes to pay on a monthly basis. However, it will be up to the individual childcare service to decide this.
34. How will we set our fees under this new scheme? You will need to work out the unit cost for each full-time equivalent place and set your fees accordingly bearing in mind that your childcare service is required to operate a tiered fee system.
35. We already have difficulty collecting fees from some of our parents – how will this scheme impact on this? You will need to factor this in when calculating the cost of a full-time equivalent place within the service and allow for some ‘lee-way’ in your calculations.
36. Should we be putting staff on protective notice? Transitional funding will be paid until June 2008. After that you need to make arrangements from then on what is appropriate for your service.
37. What notice are staff entitled to if they are going to be made redundant? In order to be entitled to the statutory minimum, the employee must have been working for their employer for at least 13 weeks. The amount of notice an employee is entitled to by law will depend on how long they have been working for their employer.
Duration of employment Minimum Notice
13 weeks to 2 years 1 week
2 years to 5 years 2 weeks
5 years to 10 years 4 weeks
10 years to 15 years 6 weeks
15 years or more 8 weeks
While the notice entitlements under an employee’s contract of employment can exceed the minimum periods above, any provision for notice in the employee’s contract for less then the above is invalid. For further information log on to www.entemp.ie
38. What about specific target groups/services such as the disabled, refugees, drug users, travellers, women’s refuge etc.? As under EOCP, there will be a flexible approach adopted in these cases. The Scheme’s objective is to target disadvantaged families.
39. Our service has a number of asylum seekers. Can they avail of CCSS? No. Childcare needs of asylum seekers are provided for by direct provision and therefore, cannot be supported under the CCSS.
40. We are not a legal entity. What changes will we have to make under this new scheme? It is a requirement under NCIP that groups have a legal status. Services must acquire Limited Company status. Under NCIP, groups will be required to submit a verified accountant’s statement of income and expenditure for the childcare facility on an annual basis.
41. If our service is not compliant with the Pre-school Regulations will we be able to get subvention? If the Pre-school Inspectorate has deemed that there are no major infractions then your group will meet the compliance requirement under CCSS.
42. Will families from Northern Ireland be able to get support under CCSS? Not currently. However, negotiations with the NI Executive will take place at a later stage.
43. If our service shuts down we will be unable to meet our contractual obligations with Pobal, what happens in this case? The Programme’s De-committal Procedures will apply.
44. Where can I get more information? Information is available from the OMC website www.omc.gov.ie and also on the Pobal website www.Pobal.ie
Alternatively, each region has a dedicated contact person.
Border, Midland and West Region (BMW)
Counties: Cavan, Donegal, Galway, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Westmeath
Please contact: Terri Doherty, Phone: 01-5239081
Email: tdoherty@pobal.ie
Dublin/ East Region:
Counties: Carlow, Dublin City, South Dublin, Dun Laoghaire/ Rathdown, Fingal, Kilkenny, Kildare, Meath, Wicklow.
Please contact: Louise Bunyan, Phone: 01 2400772.
Email: Lbunyan@pobal.ie
South/ South West Region:
Counties: Cork City, Cork County, Kerry, Clare, Limerick City, Limerick County, Tipperary, Waterford County, Waterford City, Wexford.
Please contact: Simona Burns, Phone: 021 4614 280.
Email: sburns@pobal.ie
