Off icials knew scheme would miss deadline
OFFICIALS made repeated warnings that Katherine Zappone’s Single Affordable Childcare Scheme (SACS) could not be delivered on time.
Documents obtained by the Irish Mail on Sunday under the Freedom of Information Act show that officials within the Department of Social Protection initially flagged concerns about delivering the scheme on time in June of last year – four months before it was announced in the Budget.
SACS was the Government’s flagship announcement in last October’s Budget as it sought to ease childcare costs through universal and meanstested subsidies.
Internal emails from officials at the Department of Social Protection (DSP) show that technical difficulties – relating to the transfer of data between the DSP, the Department of Children and Revenue – are at the core of the problems. ‘Recognising that we won’t have an API set up for October, is there a more efficient way to proceed with this process?’ one internal email asks.
An API allows for data to be updated and shared instantly. Without this in place the task of checking an individual’s details from the various government bodies to see if they are eligible for the scheme is ‘burdensome,’ according to a department official.
Minutes of a management board meeting at the DSP on February 9 this year highlight the issue further: ‘The Department of Children and Youth Affairs is facing challenges in meeting deadlines in respect of the Single Affordable Childcare Scheme.’
Two months later, on April 13, Ms Zappone announced the scheme would be delayed.
The MoS can reveal the new proposed date for the final delivery of the scheme is May 2018.