Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Deputy's concerns. Core funding is worth up to €221 million to the sector, so it is a significant provision. To access the new funding, services must guarantee to maintain fees at or below September 2021 levels. It is based on operating hours, the number of places offered by services, the age group of the children to whom places are offered and the number of graduate lead educators. The Department has issued a funding guarantee that all services will receive at least the same level of funding and core funding as they received in the 2021-22 programme. Approximately 1% of services will see the same income from core funding as they received this year. A large majority of services will see substantial increases in funding. I will talk to the Deputy about this issue because there is obviously a mismatch between what is being said-----

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