James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 426 to 428, inclusive, together.

A total of €7 million was made available under the Early Years Capital Programme in 2015. Of this funding, €5 million was made available for grants specifically for community/not-for-profit early years services. The remaining €2 million was made available for both private and community/not-for-profit early years services to access grants of up to €500 for quality improvement measures, specifically in the area of upgrading IT facilities.

Capital funding of €2.5 million was provided in 2014 for the maintenance and upgrade of community/not-for-profit early years services. The objective of this funding was to ensure that previously-funded community/not-for-profit early years services remained fit-for-purpose.

€2.75m was provided in Budget 2013 to support the on-going improvement of early years services. Both private and community/not-for-profit services participating in one of the national childcare programmes implemented by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs were eligible to apply for a grant under this Programme.

Finally, in Budget 2012, the Government announced capital funding of €6m to fund a maintenance programme for early years services (i.e. to address remedial, maintenance and renovation work and to purchase equipment). This funding, which provided grants up to a maximum of €50,000, was available to private and community/not-for-profit services.

The following table gives details of the capital funding provided to early years services in Mayo since the establishment of this Department in 2011.