Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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34. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the measures he is taking to address the severe shortage of childcare provision and early education provision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26326/23]

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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What measures is the Minister taking to address the severe shortage of childcare provision and early education provision? I ask him to make a statement on the matter.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Ensuring high-quality early learning and childcare is accessible and affordable is a key priority for me and there are a number of funding programmes available through my Department that seek to improve capacity. The new core funding scheme, which we were just discussing, has a range of objectives, including capacity growth. Although this scheme has only been in place since last September, analysis shows that there has already been a significant growth in capacity, with capacity growth for cohorts where we were particularly short, such as baby and toddler rooms, and in areas and parts of the country where there has been significant pressure. To meet the cost of this capacity growth, I increased the original allocation for year 1 of core funding from €207 million to €259 million. In this year's budget I was able to secure an additional €28 million in core funding in year 2, which will allow for an estimated 3% growth in capacity in year 2.

Core funding is one mechanism to increase capacity. The second mechanism is through capital funding and giving providers money to expand or build new services. We have secured €70 million under the revised national development plan. The majority of this funding has been earmarked to improve capacity. Applications for the capacity grant open later this year and can be claimed in 2024.

As well as these funding programmes, we are also looking to support other forms of childcare, particularly childminders. We are working to ensure childminders can be appropriately regulated, allowing parents who use childminders to benefit from the national childcare scheme, thereby equalising between centre-based childcare and childminders.

There is also engagement between my Department and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on the 2001 planning guidelines in terms of the design and delivery of early learning and childcare settings when significant new housing estates have been built.

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I will talk about my county of Cavan but I am sure it is reflective of what is happening elsewhere. The Cavan childcare committee as well as a number of providers have reported a crisis with the provision of childcare, particularly for children aged under two years. Many of the baby rooms are closing because the ratio is three children to one childcare professional. Providers are taking the decision that they would be better off having a larger number of older children needing just one childcare provider.

Providers have also highlighted the lack of capital funding to provide new facilities. They feel it is not in place now. I welcome the Minister's statement that €70 million is coming on stream because they have noticed a lack of capital funding which they need. There is also a need for the community provision of childcare services. For example, Cavan town has no community childcare service. There are several private services but the provision is insufficient even with the private services. One small community facility is coming on stream but it will be quite small.

Another provider has told me she has a waiting list of 188 children with 21 of them under one year of age and she will not be able to cope. Parents are bringing their child to the committee in tears because they cannot return to work after maternity leave as there is no childcare provision for them and they cannot afford to take extra unpaid leave.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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There is a very strong uptake of core funding in counties Cavan and Monaghan. It is 98% in services in Monaghan and 97% in Cavan, which are among the best rates in the country. There are definitely capacity constraints in both of those counties but we do have vacancies in both. I think it is about an 8% vacancy rate in Monaghan and a 12% vacancy rate in Cavan. However, in particular areas like toddler rooms and baby rooms, there are pressures. When we designed core funding, we did it in such a way as to reward those services that have baby rooms more. We recognise that, given the greater cost of the lower ratios, which I think we all agree are appropriate, core funding should support those baby and toddler rooms more, which it does. Services across Cavan and Monaghan are able to avail of that additional support through core funding if they so choose.

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I spoke to another service provider based in Blacklion, which is way over in west Cavan. That service has a waiting list of roughly 60. One of the biggest problems there is not space; it is retaining staff because many staff are leaving to become special needs assistants, SNAs, and so on. In addition, many Ukrainian families have been moved into that area. Those parents cannot go out to work because they cannot source childcare provision meaning that neither the children nor the adults are being integrated into the community.

This has a knock-on effect on the local primary school because children will begin school aged four, which is younger than they should. Many of the children coming from Ukraine do not have English and it causes more problems for the school. The principal says the school is at capacity and has had to turn away children. He has looked for extra resources because Ukrainian children have come into the town at different stages. He wants to bring them into the school and include them but he is finding it very difficult. What additional resources have been put in place to accommodate Ukrainian families, both in the early childhood provision and - I know it is not the remit of the Minister - in primary schools because one is having a knock-on effect on the other?

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Deputy is right in saying we need increased capacity. The building blocks grant will be very important. In July we hope to put out a call for applications for services to be able to apply for extensions or financial support to build new services with a view that that would be called down in 2024. There is real pressure on staff within the childcare system at the moment. One of the best ways we can reduce that is to address the issue of pay. That is why it was so important that we got the employment regulation order agreed. It was important that 25,000 childcare professionals across the country got a pay increase, many of them for the first time, in September of last year. I want to see a new employment regulation order agreed. Those negotiations have begun in the joint labour committee. The Government has put forward an extra €28 million in core funding in year 2 to support services to reach a new employment regulation order and achieve better pay for staff.