Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Just to say that in this Estimate, there is a small underspend on the early years side. It is primarily because unfortunately, we do not have a new employment regulation order, ERO, agreed for year two of core funding. Some of the money that was put aside to remove the three-year waiting requirement before staff got their graduate premium had to be given back because we have not got that new ERO. I am eager for that to be agreed. I know the JLC, which is an independent process, is meeting but the sooner a new ERO is signed, the sooner that additional money can flow to graduate child care professionals.

There was also a small underspend related to the national childcare scheme, NCS, because a lot of the uptake on that has been for school-age childcare, rather than full-day childcare. School-age childcare uses fewer hours, obviously, because it just covers periods after school. There is also an increase in the uptake of AIM hours and we have made provision for additional funding for that, both in terms of this Estimate but also going on into 2024. We are hoping to see AIM hours being extended, which is something everyone has been seeking for some time and everyone welcomes.