Alex White Children Archives

Closing preschool education unit ‘shortsighted’ and ‘ludicrous’

23rd September 2008

The decision to close a unit, the Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education, established to develop education for pre-school children is extremely short-sighted and a clear indicator of this Government’s lack of commitment to early education.

According to the department the closure of this unit and the loss of eight jobs is so the department can reconsider the structures established to support early education. If that is the case why shut down a unit staffed with experts in the field. What this decision does demonstrate is the Government’s lack of coherent childcare policy which is in stark contrast to Labour’s policy which is committed to the creation of a national system of child-centred and learning-focused preschool education.

As it stands less than one out of four of Irish children aged between three and four years old are currently in structured pre-school education. This contrasts with our European partners where at least two in every three children of that age enjoy such education. It is clear given that the Irish spend on per-school education is one of the lowest in developing countries, there is no serious consideration for pre-school education from the Government, at the very least the decision to close the unit proves this to be the case.

Education is the most important investment that we, as a nation, can ever make. Universal education is the key which unlocks the potential of every child. Pre-school education has been proven to tackle disadvantage which makes the decision to close this important unit in St Patrick’s Drumcondra all the more ludicrous. I am calling on the Government to reverse this cutback and commit properly to pre-school education.

More :: Education cutback closes pre-school unit (Irish Times)
More :: Click here to download Labour’s policy on pre-school education (PDF)

Labour warnings on new childcare funding scheme coming to fruition

26th August 2008

The government’s new Childcare Subvention Scheme is having a significantly negative effect on low and middle income families – just as the party had predicted.

Parents who are not in receipt of social welfare or Family Income Supplement are now facing into a winter of rising childcare prices which will inevitably result in a number of them either moving to part-time employment or leaving work altogether.

Last December in the Seanad I criticised the ‘narrow and limited focus’ of the scheme saying that they would do nothing to help the majority of families for whom childcare was ‘difficult to access and very expensive’.

Parents are now saying that they will have a price-hike of up to 100 per cent and for some it will make better economic sense to leave the workforce and care for their children full-time.

The Minister for Children launched these changes by repeatedly emphasising how much money - €153 million – was being spent ont he scheme. But again, it is those low-income families who fall just outside the social welfare criteria who will be hit the most. I was told of a family just yesterday who were paying €200 per week for the care of their two children but will now have to pay €360 under the new rules. The children’s mother is now considering leaving her job.

The changes to the scheme were motivated entirely by a short-term focus on cost, rather than on the needs of the child and working families.

Parents want what is best for their children. They are paying as much for childcare as they are in mortgage repayments. What we need is a real commitment to childcare for all families, and not the piece-meal and unjust system put in place by this government.

More :: Childcare price rises are looming, parents warned (Irish Times)
Keep in Touch :: Are you affected by the new rules on Childcare Subvention? Get in touch with us by commenting below or click on the ‘Contact Alex’ button.

Government ignoring Forum’s recommendations on Pre-School Education

29th July 2008

The release of the National Economic and Social Forum’s Periodic Report this week highlights the Government’s neglect of pre-school education.

During the general election campaign in 2007, Labour committed itself to offering one year of free pre-school education for every child regardless of income. It was part of a child-centred learning-focused system of childcare.

The NESF Report is damning of the government’s inaction in this area. This is their own advisory body labelling government policies as ‘weak’ and the report paints a picture of too many departments sharing responsibility for children.

It was the same body whose cost-benefit analysis showed that for every €1 spent on early childhood education the State would receive €7 later.

Labour took the analysis of the NESF and incorporated it into the Putting Children First document. Ireland spends less than 0.2% of GDP on our children when the EU average is 0.5%. A commitment to pre-school education is not in the current Programme for Government.

At a time when the Government is telling people to tighten their belts and look towards cost-savings, it would benefit the State to invest in pre-school education. The estimated €136 million annually it would cost to run the Labour-backed one year of free pre-school education is significantly less than the current early childhood care supplement.

As this report demonstrates, children were not a priority during the boom times. But it would be profoundly short-sighted to target childcare support in these more uncertain times.

More :: Click here to download the NESF’s Fifth Periodic Report (PDF)
More :: Click here to download Labour’s Putting Children First document from Election 2007

Children’s Ombudsman concerns must be heeded

1st July 2008

Children's Ombudsman's concerns must be heeded Concerns raised by the Ombudsman for Children in her Annual Report, over the state’s failure to properly protect vulnerable children and to support families with additional needs, must be heeded and acted on.

The 43 per cent increase in demand for the services of the agency is testament to the high regard in which Ms Logan and her Office are held, but alas, also provides a clear indication that the state, through its various departments and agencies is failing to deliver on the services that children and their families deserve, and to which they are entitled.

The fact that education-related complaints form the bulk of concerns raised, should be of particular concern, but it is hardly surprising given the dismal performance of Fianna Fail in making provision for children with special needs.

Over a quarter of complaints handled referred to health-related matters, such as child protection, access and adequacy of HSE services, and decisions regarding children in care.

We already know that social work teams are considerably under-resourced, and thanks to the HSE staff recruitment embargo, just about every one of them is operating well below full staff complement. Local child protection teams simply don’t have the resources they require to make early interventions, in order to prevent a problem in a family escalating into a crisis.

When you consider the massive backlogs in many areas of the country, the lack of an out-of-hours service, and the lack of specialist residential places for children with challenging behaviour, the scale of the problem is massive.

When Brian Cowen was elected as Taoiseach he told the Dail that the particular responsibility of the Govt was to “represent the interests of our young”. It’s now time for him to act on that worthy sentiment by ensuring that the concerns raised by Emily Logan are addressed and resolved immediately.

More :: Download the Ombudsman for Children’s Annual Report by clicking here (PDF)

Children being failed by our social service system

13th May 2008

Last night’s Prime Time Investigates programme on child protection services, showed the alarming extent to which children at risk of abuse or neglect are being failed by our social service system.

Perhaps the most shocking disclosure was that children regarded as Priority One cases - those most at risk of sexual or physical abuse - did not have a social worker allocated to them. We also saw where filing cabinets packed with documents relating to numerous cases, had not yet even been examined.

The programme drew attention to a particularly outrageous case where a foster parent reported evidence of sexual abuse of a child in her care, only for her warnings to be ignored. There seemed to be no action taken by the HSE and the suspected parents were allowed ongoing regular access to the child. It is quite clear that children in such cases are not being afforded the full protection to which they are entitled under the Children Act 2001.

It is little wonder that doctors and teachers who have to refer cases to social services have become so frustrated and disillusioned, when they discover that in all liklelihood, nothing will be done.

It was very disappointing to hear the response of new Minister of State Barry Andrews on Morning Ireland this morning. One might have expected that a new Minister would bring a new perspective and a new enthusiasm to the job. Instead what we got was a new voice, trotting out the same old excuses and offloading responsibility to the HSE. Where was Minister Andrews’ anger? Where was his determination to get this problem sorted out?

The reality is that children are being placed at unacceptable risk and that unless our child protection services are properly resourced many will face continued abuse or even death.

Just last week the newly-elected Taoiseach Brian Cowen told the Dail that the particular responsibility of the Govt was to “represent the interests of our young”. It’s now time for him to act on that worthy sentiment by ensuring that the HSE recruitment embargo is lifted and that an emergency programme of recruitment of social workers gets under way immediately.

More :: You can watch the ‘Prime Time Investigates’ programme on Child Protection by clicking here

White expresses frustration at slow progress of Knocklyon School

23rd April 2008

[youtube=”http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=gSDTMbnOgBE”]
Senator Alex White has expressed his frustration and disappointment with the lack of progress of extension plans for St Colmcille’s Junior School and Senior School in Knocklyon.

Senator White was speaking in the Seanad yesterday where he highlighted the situation the staff and pupils now find themselves in.

“The difficulty is that the schools wish to apply for planning permission but so far the Minister has not seen fit to permit the school to proceed with this application,” Senator White told the Seanad. “The schools have slightly fewer than 500 pupils in prefabricated accommodation with a total of 16 prefab classrooms and 14 prefab resource teacher rooms. Most of these prefabs were installed 20 to 25 years ago.

“It is vital that this project proceeds,” he explained. The School is awaiting permission to apply for planning permission since last November.

In response, Minister of State Máire Hoctor told Senator White that the school has “a significant amount of accommodation but still has a shortfall” and failed to set a date to allow the school to apply for planning permission.

Minister of State Hoctor cited the current economic situation of the country for the slow progress. She told the Seanad that “further announcements will be made as the budgetary position allows. This school project will be considered in that context.”

Senator Alex White said that describing the school’s accommodation problems as a ‘shortfall’ was “the greatest understatement I have heard for a long time” and was quick to point out to the Minister of State that allowing the school to apply for planning permission would not cost the Government a cent.

“I do not understand why, in circumstances where costs are not entailed, the Minister could not see her way to giving the green light to the schools. The momentum exists in the schools and in the local community which provides fantastic support for the schools,” he said.

More :: Read the full transcript of the debate here.

Welfare of children at risk thanks to penny-pinching HSE

22nd April 2008

Reports that the HSE is unable to respond adequately to hundreds of cases of vulnerable children because of staff shortages and under-resourcing is a further indication that our health services, and our child protection services in particular, are run on the basis of profit and loss accounts and balance sheets, rather than on the basis of the needs of vulnerable children.

The book-keeping culture that prevails in the HSE has led to a situation where the protection afforded to children is largely confined to emergency action. Local child protection teams simply don’t have the resources they require to make early interventions, in order to prevent a problem in a family escalating into a crisis.

Social work teams are hugely under-resourced, and thanks to the HSE staff recruitment embargo, just about every one of them is operating well below full staff complement.

In addition, it is unacceptable that the information which emerged today is three years old at this stage. Under the Child Care Act 1991, the HSE is obliged to report on their child care activities on an annual basis. There is little value to this requirement if the information they provide is not delivered in a timely basis, so that problems can be identified, addressed and resolved quickly.

It is also extraordinary that the report referred to in today’s Irish Times appears to have been sent to the Minister by the HSE in late February, but is only coming to public attention today. While the report was placed on the HSE web-site some weeks ago, both the Minister and the HSE must ensure that there is immediate publication of such reports in the future, especially where their contents are already years out of date.

Athlone report raises serious questions about operation of child protection guidelines

15th April 2008

The report of the Independent Inquiry into how a lecturer in child care policy at the Athlone Institute of Technology was able to remain in his post two years after his conviction for serious sexual offences in Holland raises serious questions about the operation of child protection measures in this country.

Parents will find it hard to understand how no action was taken despite the then Midlands Health Board and the Gardai being notified of it within days of its occurrence in Holland in June 2004.
This was a serious incident involving violence and indecent acts.

Surely we should have accepted by now that when it comes to the welfare and protection of children no avoidable risks should be taken.

In this case it appears that proper procedures were followed and that the appropriate authorities were notified, but no action was taken but for reasons that were not entirely clear.

We must now learn the lessons of this affair and ensure that not only are appropriate procedures in place, but that they are acted upon when incidents like this occur.

The recommendations made by Mr. Devine in his report should now be placed for consideration before the Oireachtas Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children.

More:: Read the full McElwee Report by clicking here

Increasing English lessons for Newcomer Students would help integration in schools

12th March 2008

While at the Order of Business yesterday, I made some points regarding teaching resources available for newcomer students in this country, after hearing about the latest report from the ASTI.

“We have had debates on integration and the Minister of State came to the House for an interesting preliminary debate on integration. However, it is time we moved away from speeches, from essentially theorising about what integration is and from discussing the experiences of other countries and so on, and considered practical measures which could be taken by the Government to ensure a higher degree of integration in respect of students and young people, particularly in our education system.

A timely statement was made by the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland. It pointed out that at the very heart of any integration policy must be language support in schools. It correctly criticised the Department for failing to properly resource the teaching of English to young students in schools to help counter racism which, of course, is a much more complex question. However, nothing is more important than language and the teaching of language. It pointed out that newcomer students get two hours of English lessons per week. Notwithstanding that they get two hours of English lessons per week, they must spend the rest of the day struggling to understand what teachers are saying in science class and elsewhere. This statement came from teachers involved in schools and who know what they are talking about.It is entirely inadequate that the teachers who provide these lessons get only one day’s training. We do not have adequate provision of English language teaching in our schools. Far more work needs to be done in that regard and we need more resources. Let us have another debate on integration but not at a theoretical level discussing the experiences of other countries, interesting and all as that is. It should focus on how we can practically support the teaching of English to newcomer students in our schools. “

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Category: Children