Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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236. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he is concerned at the rise in the cost of insurance premiums in the child care sector; if he will intervene and support crèches that are at risk of closure due to these increases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8175/16]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Insurance cover is one of a number of costs that impact on the sustainability of services providing care and education in the early years sector.

Early years childcare services are supported through a number of childcare support programmes implemented by my Department. In the region of €260 million has been provided annually over the past number of years to support these programmes. An additional €85 million package of investment for childcare was announced in Budget 2016. This additional funding will provide for the extension of the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme in which more than 4,000 childcare services are participating and will significantly increase the demand for pre-school services. The funding will also provide for the restoration of ECCE capitation rates from September 2016 back up to pre-2012 levels. It will further support the expansion of the Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) which is now targeted at private childcare providers for the first time. These additional funding opportunities are expected to have a positive impact on the income of childcare providers and will enable them to address some of their overhead costs.

There is no additional funding available to my Department outside of that provided under the support programmes to enable my Department to assist early years services that have sustainability issues. However, the City and County and Childcare Committees and Pobal, which are funded by this Department, will work closely with and support services that have sustainability concerns. I am aware that Early Childhood Ireland (ECI) which represents a large number of early years childcare services can also provide useful advice to providers in relation to insurance cover.