Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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33. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of childcare providers that participated in the core funding scheme but have subsequently raised fees for services despite the commitment in the scheme not to (details supplied); if his Department has received any complaints about this practice; if any service provider has done so; if so, the penalties his Department apply to that provider; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26324/23]

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I ask the Minister about the core funding model for childcare, how it is applied across all providers and the number of childcare providers that participated in this scheme, but subsequently raised their fees for services, despite the commitment in the scheme not to do so. Has the Department received any complaints about this? If so, how does the Department deal with the service providers concerned? Are there any penalties? I ask the Minister to make a statement on the matter.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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More than 4,200 partner services currently participate in core funding, which represents 95% of all services in the State. These services must operate in line with the core funding partner service funding agreement. With regard to fees, partner services must uphold their contractual obligations with regard to fee management, as laid out in this agreement. In the first year - we are still in that first year - partner services must not increase the fees charged to parents from those charged in September 2021. An increased charge of any kind for an existing and unchanged service type will be in breach of core funding rules. A partner service may create a new service type, but must ensure that the fee for any new service type will be calculated as not more than a proportion of the closest equivalent fee that existed on 30 September 2021.

Where a partner service increases the level of service offered, a higher fee can be charged for this, but that fee must be in direct proportion to the increase. For example, an increase in full-day care from 40 to 50 hours per week represents an increase of 25% in the level of service. A higher fee can be charged for this but it cannot exceed 25% more than the previous fee that was charged on 30 September 2021. Similarly, an increase in weeks from a 38-week offering to a 52-week offering must be charged proportionately. Parents of children attending a partner service that have identified a potential breach with regard to fee management may seek to have this examined and a conclusion reached through the core funding fee review process.

As of 26 May, Pobal is considering five such cases. Where a determination is made of a breach with regard to fee management, a partner service must provide evidence of remedy of that breach within 30 working days. Failure to do so may result in the termination of the core funding partner service funding agreement. I encourage any parent who is concerned about fees to contact his or her local city or county childcare committee in the first instance.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I welcome the fact the Minister has tried to reduce the fees, but some of the larger providers - in the case of the parliamentary questions I have asked the Minister and in this case - such as Safari Childcare in Dublin 8, have brought in a model where they have said to parents they have to avail of the service 52 weeks per year. In other words, parents who do not normally pay for after-school care during the school holidays, because there is no school, are now being told that if they do not do so, their children's places are not secure in the next term. It strong arms the parents into paying more money for childcare. The level of childcare costs in this country is still pretty shocking, compared to the average EU country. Studies have been done which show we are, on a scale throughout the EU, the third highest. That is pretty shocking. We all know of systems and societies where they bring down the costs significantly in some places and do not have them at all in others. There needs to be more than a report-to-Pobal attitude from the Minister's Department about attempts to strong-arm parents in this manner.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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If the Deputy does not mind, I will not get too involved in the specific instance she has raised, because I do not know if it is in a fee-review process through Pobal. It may well be and may be one of the cases. I do not know. However, there are processes whereby parents can flag issues and there are significant consequences for the service, such as the withdrawal of the funding agreement, which is very significant. In many cases, it would be worth thousands, if not tens of thousands, of euro to the service. A breach of the agreement is not insignificant. However, the Deputy is right in that childcare is still too expensive in our country. We have made significant steps. We have brought in the fee freeze for the first time ever. We have achieved a significant increase in the national childcare scheme, NCS, as of 1 January this year. We have increased the subsidy to parents and there has been an average of 25% reduction in their out-of-pocket costs. We will look to do more in next year's budget because even though we have taken big steps, we need to do more to continue to reduce the cost of childcare for everybody.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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We certainly do. I hope that continues to be the commitment from the Department. However, it is not rhetorical to say - it goes to core of the issue - that what is happening here is we have a disjointed, privatised and fragmented childcare service in this country. We would not allow this to happen at primary or second level, but the care is a patchwork of various different types of service and capacity, essentially to deal with the private provision of childcare in this country. I recently visited my local childcare, Treasury Tots, in Ballyfermot. It applied for a grant to refurbish the building, but was initially refused. Treasury Tots has appealed the decision and hopes to win it, but the workers made the point to me that we need a fully funded and properly provided for early education service that is run by the State via these carers and their providers. They are wonderful workers and managers, but they are all the time reliant on a complex and fragmented system. Ultimately this is what we have to deal with.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Deputy is absolutely right to praise childcare professionals. I was delighted to secure, for the first time, a pay agreement for them in September 2022 where 73% of childcare professionals saw a salary increase. The issue here is that our State has historically not invested in this sector. When I entered office, investment in childcare was €638 million per year. This year, it will be more than €1 billion for the first time. That €1 billion figure was reached five years earlier than previous policy commitments had set out. We need to increase public investment, but we also need to have increased public management of the system. That is what we have done with the fee freeze. For the first time ever, we have a clear mechanism that caps the fees for parents, but also ensures we have solid investment in order that childcare services can reinvest in themselves and pay childcare professionals better. We have gone a significant way in achieving those three goals: lower fees for parents; investment for childcare providers; and better pay for staff.