Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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689. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of applications under the early years capital fund that he has received, by county, and the grant aid sought; the total budget available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30658/15]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Funding totalling €7 million was made available under the Early Years Capital Programme 2015, with €5 million of this funding available for grants specifically for community/not for profit early years services. This funding will provide grant aid, in the region of €500,000, for significant upgrades of community/not-for-profit early years services, such as major refurbishment or relocation to new premises. Also under this strand of funding, grants of up to €50,000 will be available for essential maintenance, or works undertaken to improve the energy performance of early years services. The remaining €2 million in capital funding was made available to both private and community/ not-for-profit early years to access grants of up to €500 for quality improvement measures, specifically in the area of upgrading IT facilities.

Pobal, who is administering this programme on behalf of my Department, has provided the breakdown of the applications in the following table.