Dr. Anne-Marie Brooks:

With regard to the chart of accounts and the level of emails Senator Seery Kearney has received, we are aware of the concerns that are being expressed by providers and the need for support in fulfilling this requirement for training supports and potentially otherwise. The Minister has asked us to look at the potential for targeted supports where services might find it financially difficult to meet this reporting requirement. That is something we are looking at. My colleague, Mr. Doheny, has described a more strategic process that we are embarking on now with regard to addressing administration and regulatory simplification. We are absolutely committed to doing that. We understand the challenges of new schemes, the additional requirements of increased funding and what that brings to providers. We are listening and looking to address that and work with providers on it.

On the sustainability fund and the concerns the Senator expressed about that, we are constantly reviewing the strands of funding available through the fund. We are doing that currently to make sure that if it is not accessible to providers who need it, it will be.

On the question around reputational damage, the fear that if one avails of the sustainability fund, it will be a blemish on one's credit record has been raised with us separately by others. That is just not the case and we have committed to communicating that to providers and through representative groups. We need to look at how we send out messaging around the sustainability fund. It is a grant to services. We can look to improve our communications on that.

The building blocks capital grant is an allocation of €20 million in 2024, with further funding in 2025. In the next number of weeks, we will be opening applications for that capital grant. We are concluding a needs assessment. As I said, it is €20 million. The funding will be targeted where there is most need and highest levels of undersupply.