Child Care (Amendment) Act 2024

Child Care (Amendment) Act 2024 Skip to content Disclaimer Feedback Helpdesk Gaeilge Léim go dtí an t-ábhar Séanadh Aiseolas Deasc chabhrach English Gaeilge English Produced by the Office of the Attorney General Táirgthe ag Oifig an Ard-Aighne Home Legislation Acts of the Oireachtas Statutory Instruments Pre-1922 Legislation Constitution External Resources Bills (Houses of the Oireachtas) Iris Oifigiúil / Official Gazette Revised Acts (LRC) Classified List of Legislation (LRC) Translations (acts.ie) Translations (Houses of the Oireachtas) Government Publications for Sale EU Law (EUR-Lex) FAQ Disclaimer Feedback Helpdesk Search Baile Reachtaíocht Achtanna an Oireachtais Ionstraimí Reachtúla Reachtaíocht Réamh-1922 Bunreacht Acmhainní Seachtracha Billí (Tithe an Oireachtais) Iris Oifigiúil Achtanna Athbhreithnithe (CAD) (An Coimisiún um Athchóiriú an Dlí) Liosta Rangaithe Reachtaíochta Aistriúcháin (achtanna.ie) Aistriúcháin (Tithe an Oireachtais) Foilseacháin Rialtais ar Díol Dlí AE (EUR-Lex) CCanna (Ceisteanna Coitianta) Séanadh Aiseolas Deasc chabhrach Cuardach TitleTeideal Year(s) or rangeBliain nó blianta nó raon TypeCineál All Legislation Acts Statutory Instruments Advanced SearchCuardach Casta HomeBaile ActsAchtanna 2024 Child Care (Amendment) Act 2024 Child Care (Amendment) Act 2024 Permanent Page URL View by SectionAmharc de réir Ailt View Full ActAmharc ar an Acht Iomlán Bill History Stair Bille Commencement, Amendments, SIs made under the Act Tosach Feidhme, Leasuithe, IRí arna ndéanamh faoin Acht Open PDFOscail PDF Print Full ActPriontáil an tAcht Iomlán Number 19 of 2024 CHILD CARE (AMENDMENT) ACT 2024 CONTENTS Section

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Section 5

Section 6

Section 7

Section 8

Section 9

Section 10

Section 11

Section 12

Section 13

Section 14

Section 15

Section 16

Section 17

Section 18

Section 19

Section 20

Section 21

Section 22

Section 23

Definition 1. In this Act, “Principal Act” means the Child Care Act 1991 .

Amendment of section 2(1) of Principal Act 2. Section 2(1) of the Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following definition: “ ‘personal data’ has the same meaning as it has in the Data Protection Regulation;”.

Amendment of section 29(5B) of Principal Act 3. Section 29(5B) of the Principal Act is amended, in paragraph (d), by the deletion of the definition of “personal data”.

Amendment of section 58A of Principal Act 4. Section 58A of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in the definition of “early years service”— (i) in paragraph (a), by the deletion of “or”, (ii) in paragraph (b), by the substitution of “service, or” for “service;”, and (iii) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (b): “(c) a childminding service;”, and (b) by the insertion of the following definitions: “ ‘childminding service’ means a service that— (a) entails an individual taking care, by himself or herself, of children under the age of 15 years, in the home of the individual, and (b) is provided to children (other than that individual’s own children) for a total period of not less than 2 hours per day; ‘closure order’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 58JD(1); ‘immediate action notice’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 58JB(1); ‘immediate action order’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 58JB(6); ‘improvement notice’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 58JA(1); ‘improvement order’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 58JA(6); ‘premises’ means any premises, or part thereof, where an early years service is provided or is proposed to be provided, including the area immediately surrounding, or adjacent to, such premises which is used in conjunction with such premises, other than any part of that area that is a public place; ‘registered provider’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 58C(2); ‘relevant person’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 58JD(1)(b); ‘temporary prohibition order’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 58JC(1);”.

Amendment of section 58B of Principal Act 5. Section 58B of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in subsection (2)— (i) in paragraph (e), by the substitution of “early years service,” for “early years service, and”, (ii) in paragraph (f), by the substitution of “register,” for “register.”, and (iii) by the insertion of the following paragraphs after paragraph (f): “(g) prescribe a class or classes of persons who, in the opinion of the Minister, are fit and proper persons— (i) to be registered providers and to carry on a prescribed early years service, (ii) to be in charge of a prescribed early years service, or (iii) to participate in the management of an early years service, (h) specify the requirements that a member of a class or classes prescribed under subparagraph (i), (ii) or (iii) of paragraph (g) shall satisfy in order to be considered fit and proper persons for the purposes of the subparagraph concerned, (i) require persons carrying on prescribed early years services to make adequate arrangements, including publication of such arrangements, to make publicly known to the parents and guardians of children attending the service and the persons working in the service any of the following matters— (i) a decision under section 58D to remove the name of the registered provider from the register, (ii) a decision under section 58D to attach a condition, or amend or revoke a condition attached, to the registration of the registered provider, (iii) a decision to issue an improvement notice in respect of the prescribed early years service provided by the registered provider, (iv) the grant of an improvement order in respect of the prescribed early years service provided by the registered provider, (v) a decision to issue an immediate action notice in respect of the prescribed early years service provided by the registered provider, (vi) the grant of an immediate action order in respect of the prescribed early years service provided by the registered provider, (vii) a decision to issue a temporary prohibition order in respect of a prescribed early years service provided by the registered provider, or (viii) the grant of a closure order in respect of the prescribed early years service provided by the registered provider, and (j) prescribe such particulars, including personal data, of parents and guardians of children attending prescribed early years services, as are necessary and proportionate for the performance by the Agency of its functions under this Part, that shall, at the request of the Agency, be provided to the Agency by registered providers.”,

and (b) in subsection (3)— (i) in paragraph (c), by the substitution of “early years services, and” for “early years services.”, and (ii) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (c): “(d) provide for exemptions, from any requirement in regulations under paragraph (i) of subsection (2) to make arrangements to make publicly known any of the matters specified in subparagraphs (i) to (viii) of that paragraph, for different circumstances or classes of circumstances or for different cases or classes of cases.”.

Amendment of section 58C(2) of Principal Act 6. Section 58C(2) of the Principal Act is amended by the substitution of “(in this Part referred to as a ‘registered provider’)” for “(“registered providers”)”.

Amendment of section 58D of Principal Act 7. Section 58D of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in subsection (7), by the substitution of “shall” for “may”, (b) in subsection (9), by the substitution of “may” for “shall” in both places where it occurs, (c) in subsection (12)(b), by the substitution of “section 58F(1)” for “section 58F”, and (d) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (14): “(15) Where the Agency proposes to make a decision under this section in respect of a registered provider, it shall, without prejudice to any other legal basis for the exercise of its powers under this section, have regard to— (a) the issue of an improvement order or an immediate action order in respect of a prescribed early years service provided by the registered provider, (b) any failure of the registered provider to comply with an order referred to in paragraph (a), (c) the issue of a temporary prohibition order in respect of a prescribed early years service provided by the registered provider, (d) the carrying on of activities by the registered provider in contravention of a temporary prohibition order, (e) any failure of the registered provider to remedy the matters specified in a temporary prohibition order, and (f) the grant of a closure order in respect of an early years service provided by the registered provider.”.

Publication of decisions under Part VIIA 8. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 58D: “58DA. (1) The Agency shall make such arrangement as the Agency considers appropriate and necessary to bring any matter specified in subsection (2) to the attention of the public where to do so is in the interests of the health, safety and welfare of children attending early years services.

Amendment of section 58F of Principal Act 9. Section 58F of the Principal Act is amended— (a) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (2): “(2A) A registered provider may, within 7 days of the date on which a temporary prohibition order is served on him or her, appeal to the District Court against the decision to issue the order. (2B) The bringing of an appeal under subsection (2A) against a temporary prohibition order which is to take effect in accordance with section 58JC(3)(a) shall not have the effect of suspending the operation of the order. (2C) Without prejudice to subsection (2B), a person who brings an appeal under subsection (2A) against a temporary prohibition order may apply to the District Court to have the operation of the order suspended until the appeal is withdrawn or determined and, on such application, the court may, if it thinks proper to do so, direct that the operation of the order be suspended until the appeal is withdrawn or determined. (2D) The court may, on an appeal under subsection (2A)— (a) confirm the temporary prohibition order, with or without modification, or (b) cancel the temporary prohibition order.”, and (b) in subsection (3), by the substitution of “this section and sections 58JA, 58JB and 58JD” for “this section”.

Amendment of section 58J of Principal Act 10. Section 58J of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in subsection (2), by the substitution of “to enter, at any time or times from the date of issue of the warrant, and” for “to enter and”, (b) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (2): “(2A) The period of validity of a warrant under subsection (2) shall be 28 days from its date of issue, but that period of validity may be extended in accordance with subsections (2B) and (2C). (2B) An authorised person may, during the period of validity of a warrant under subsection (2) (including such period as previously extended under subsection (2C)), apply to a judge of the District Court for an order extending the period of validity of the warrant and such an application shall be grounded on information on oath stating, by reference to the purpose for which the warrant was issued, the reasons why the authorised person considers the extension to be necessary. (2C) If, on the making of an application under subsection (2B), the judge of the District Court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing, having regard to that information so laid, that further time is needed so that the purpose for which the warrant was issued can be fulfilled, the judge may make an order extending the period of validity of the warrant by such period as, in the opinion of the judge, is appropriate and just; and where such an order is made, the judge shall cause the warrant to be suitably endorsed to indicate its extended period of validity. (2D) Nothing in subsections (2) to (2C) prevents a judge of the District Court from issuing, on the making of a further application under subsection (2), a further search warrant under this section in relation to the same premises.”, and (c) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (3A): “(3B) Without prejudice to subsections (3) and (3A), an authorised person who enters any premises in accordance with subsection (1), (1A) or (2), may— (a) require any person at the premises to produce to him or her any documents or records that the authorised person may reasonably require for the purposes of ensuring compliance with this Part, (b) examine any document or record produced to him or her under paragraph (a), and take copies of, or extracts from, such document or record or have the document or record made available in a form to facilitate its removal from the location at which the document or record is made available, (c) take possession of any document or record produced to him or her under paragraph (a) that, in the opinion of the authorised person, is relevant to ensuring compliance with this Part, and, for those purposes, remove the document or record and retain such document or record in his or her possession for a reasonable period, and

(d) require any person on the premises to give to him or her any information relating to the provision of a prescribed early years service on the premises that the authorised person may reasonably require for the purpose of the performance of his or her functions or the functions of the Agency under this Act.”.

Improvement notice and improvement order 11. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 58J: “58JA. (1) Where an authorised person is of the opinion, following the exercise of any of his or her powers under section 58J relating to a premises in which a registered provider is providing a prescribed early years service, that there is an issue of significant concern that is of such a nature that if it persists it will, or is likely to, pose a risk of harm to a child attending the service, he or she may issue a notice (in this Part referred to as an ‘improvement notice’).

Immediate action notice and immediate action order 12. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 58JA (inserted by section 11 ): “58JB. (1) Where an authorised person is of the opinion, following the exercise of any of his or her powers under section 58J relating to a premises in which a registered provider is providing a prescribed early years service, that immediate action is required by the registered provider in order to address an issue that poses an immediate risk of harm to a child attending the service, he or she may issue a notice (in this Part referred to as an ‘immediate action notice’).

Temporary prohibition order 13. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 58JB (inserted by section 12 ): “58JC. (1) Where an authorised person is of the opinion that the continued provision of a prescribed early years service poses an immediate and grave risk to the health, safety or welfare of children attending the service, he or she may, subject to subsection (2), serve, or arrange to have served, on the registered provider or person in charge of the service a notice (in this Part referred to as a ‘temporary prohibition order’) stating that he or she is of that opinion and the temporary prohibition order shall— (a) state that the authorised person is of the opinion that the provision of the service should be prohibited for a specified period not exceeding 6 weeks, (b) specify the matters which in his or her opinion give rise to the said risk, and (c) direct that the provision of the service be prohibited unless and until the matters specified under paragraph (b) have been remedied.

Closure order 14. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 58JC (inserted by section 13 ): “58JD. (1) The Agency may apply to the District Court for an order prohibiting the continuance of the provision of an early years service (in this Part referred to as a ‘closure order’) where— (a) a temporary prohibition order has been served on the registered provider of the service and— (i) activities are carried on in contravention of the order, or (ii) the matters specified under paragraph (b) of section 58JC(1) have not been remedied before the expiry of the period during which the temporary prohibition order has effect, or (b) the Agency has reason to believe that a person (in this Part referred to as a ‘relevant person’) is providing a prescribed early years service and his or her name is not entered in the register as a provider of that service.

Appeal against closure order 15. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 58JD (inserted by section 14 ): “58JE. (1) A registered provider and a relevant person may, within 7 days of the date on which a closure order is served on him or her, appeal to the Circuit Court against the decision.

Amendment of section 58K(1) of Principal Act 16. Section 58K(1) of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in paragraph (a), by the substitution of “subsection (3), (3A) or (3B)” for “subsection (3)”, (b) in paragraph (b), by the substitution of “section 58D,” for “section 58D, or”, and (c) by the insertion of the following paragraphs after paragraph (b): “(ba) fails to comply with an improvement order, (bb) fails to comply with an immediate action order, (bc) fails to comply with a temporary prohibition order, (bd) fails to comply with a closure order, or”.

Amendment of section 58L of Principal Act 17. Section 58L of the Principal Act is amended— (a) by the designation of that section as subsection (1), and (b) by the addition of the following subsections after subsection (1): “(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of subsection (1), an application under section 58D(2) to be registered in the register may be made by— (a) a relative to whom that paragraph applies, other than a parent of the child, or (b) the spouse of such relative, other than where the relative is a parent of the child.

Transitional provisions (Part VIIA) 18. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 58L: “58M. (1) Notwithstanding the repeal of the relevant exemptions by section 22 of the Act of 2024, this Part shall, subject to subsection (2), continue to apply for the duration of the transitional period as if the relevant exemptions had not been repealed, to— (a) a person who, immediately before that repeal, was taking care of children and was exempt from the provisions of this Part pursuant to the application of either of those exemptions and continues to be so exempt, and (b) a person who commences taking care of children during the transitional period and who would have been exempt from the provisions of this Part prior to that repeal.

Amendment of Schedule 1 to National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 19. Schedule 1 to the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 is amended, in paragraph 1(a) of Part 1, by the substitution of “early years services within the meaning of Part VIIA” for “pre-school services within the meaning of Part VII”.

Amendment of Schedule 2 to Children First Act 2015 20. Schedule 2 to the Children First Act 2015 is amended— (a) in paragraph 15(j), by the substitution of “an early years service” for “a pre school service”, and (b) in paragraph 18, by the substitution of “an early years service” for “a pre-school service”.

Amendment of Childcare Support Act 2018 21. The Childcare Support Act 2018 is amended— (a) in section 1(1)— (i) by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “childcare service”: “ ‘childcare service’ means an early years service;”, (ii) in the definition of “childcare services provider”, by the substitution of “an early years service” for “a pre-school service or a school age service”, and (iii) by the insertion of the following definition: “ ‘early years service’ has the same meaning as it has in Part VIIA of the Act of 1991;”, and (b) in Schedule 2, by the addition of the following item: “ Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science To support parents under the age of 18 years to remain in education or training through access to childcare services. ”.

Repeals 22. Subject to section 58M of the Principal Act, paragraphs (b) and (c) of section 58L (as if the amendments of that section by section 17 had not been made) of the Principal Act are repealed.

Short title, collective citation and commencement 23. (1) This Act may be cited as the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2024.

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