Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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1204. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the funding avenues available to a child care facilities to upgrade and renovate their premises; if there is any emergency funding that may be available; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9774/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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Capital funding of more than €420 million was provided by the State to support the development of childcare infrastructure in the period up until 2008. Since the economic downturn the limited funding available to this Department has been targeted to support the refurbishment and maintenance of childcare facilities in which there has already been considerable investment.

The Department announced earlier this year the introduction of an Early Years Capital Programme 2016 with total funding of €4 million available. This funding is targeted at early years pre-school providers that are making alterations to their services to accommodate the increased numbers of children eligible for the free pre-school provision following my decision to expand the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. The number of children availing of the programme will increase from approximately 67,000 per year to 127,000 per year following the full roll out of the expanded pre-school provision.

Last year, the Department established the Inter-Departmental Group to consider options for future investment in early years and after-school childcare and to set out a range of options for future investment which would enhance affordability, increase the accessibility and improve the quality of early years and after-school childcare.

Several recommendations of the Group, including a number which relate to after-school childcare, were considered as part of the Estimates process for the Budget and will also be funded in 2016. These include a €3 million capital fund, which will be provided to enable both community/not-for-profit and private providers to develop after-school childcare services using existing school and other accessible community facilities. The terms and conditions for this €3 million capital fund are currently being drafted.

A number of support programmes are implemented by this Department to support parents to access quality after-school childcare services. These include:

- The After-School Childcare (ASCC) programme that provides after-school care for primary school children of eligible parents for a period of 52 weeks. Eligibility for the programme is determined by the Department of Social Protection. The programme contributes €40 per week for an after-school place or €80 per week in situations where the childcare service provides a pick-up service that collects the child from school. The programme also provides a full day care rate of €105 per week, for a maximum of 10 weeks, to cater for school holiday periods. In all cases, the maximum fee payable by parents is €15 per week per child.

- The Community Employment Childcare (CEC) programme, which is targeted specifically at participants in the Community Employment (CE) schemes operated by the Department of Social Protection. Under this programme, €80 per week is provided for pre-school places for children up to the age of 5 and €40 per week for after-school places for primary school children up to the age of 13, with a set charge of €15 per week to the parent in either case. The programme also provides a part time day care rate of €80 per week, for a maximum of 10 weeks, to cater for school holiday periods. Places are approved for 50 weeks. Eligibility for the CEC programme is determined by the Department of Social Protection.

- The Childcare Education and Training Support (CETS) programme, which provides childcare places, including part-time and after-school places, to qualifying Solas or Education and Training Boards (ETB) trainees or students for the duration of their courses. Eligibility for the CETS programme is determined by the Department of Education and Skills.

- The Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) programme provides funding to childcare services to enable them to provide quality childcare, including after-school care, at reduced rates to disadvantaged and low income working parents.

There is no funding available other than the programme funding outlined above, however, it should be noted that if a service is facing a crisis they should engage with this Department and their local County Childcare Committee (CCC) to see what assistance can be made available to them. The Department will consider any subsequent future capital programmes subject to budget discussions.