Written answers

Thursday, 13 July 2017

Department of Children and Youth Affairs

Early Childhood Care and Education Funding

Photo of Anne RabbitteAnne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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1123. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the amount allocated and drawn down in respect of the learner fund in 2016 and to date in 2017 by county. [33970/17]

Photo of Katherine ZapponeKatherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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The Learner Fund was established to provide access to appropriate programmes of learning for Early Years sector workers.

The initial phases of funding released (Learner Funds 1, 2 and 3) focussed on those Early Years sector workers who lacked a qualification relevant to Early Childhood Care and Education or lacked a qualification in that area which was placed at, or equivalent to, Level 5 on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ). A relevant qualification which is placed at or equivalent to Level 5 on the NFQ is the minimum qualifications standard introduced through the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016. This standard took effect at the end of 2016. The Learner Funds were introduced as part of a general focus on improving and supporting quality Early Years provision in Ireland, with a specific focus on aiding Early Years workers meet the regulatory requirements in advance of the introduction of same.

Up to the end of 2015, €3,052,648 in funding was allocated and paid through the Learner Funds.

Learner Fund 3 closed for applications in July of 2016. Learner Fund 4 was introduced to allow Early Years sector workers to up-skill to relevant qualification placed at Level 6 on the NFQ, and closed in October of 2016.

Funding continues to be dispensed to successful applicants through both Leaner Fund 3 and 4, and it is not envisaged that the full spend will be achieved until early 2018.

This Department expects to release further Leaner Fund monies within the next quarter.

Applications for funding were made through local County / City Childcare Committees (CCC) and payments are being managed by Pobal, who administer the programme on behalf of DCYA in concert with the CCCs. Funding was allocated on the basis of the number of successful applications proposed for funding by each CCC and the spend reflects this.

The total budget for Learner Fund 3 was €406,283. Of this, payments totalling €203,550 were made prior to 2015. The remaining €205,550 was paid in 2016 and is broken down by county in Table A.

In relation to Learner Fund 4, the total budget was €915,280. Of this, payments totalling €695,906 have been made for the years 2016/17 while € 219,374 has yet to be drawn down. A breakdown of payments by county to date is included in Table B overleaf.

Table A

County2016 Payment
Galway City and County Childcare3,780
Donegal County Childcare Committee0
Meath County Childcare Committee11,095
Cavan County Childcare Committee2,010
Fingal County Childcare Committee17,670
Sligo County Childcare Committee1,920
Longford County Childcare Committee7,140
Carlow County Childcare Committee4,100
Mayo County Childcare Committee270
Wicklow County Childcare Committee4,560
Louth County Childcare committee0
Wexford County Childcare Committee2,820
Offaly County Childcare Committee2,940
Laois County Childcare Committee3,060
South Dublin Childcare Committee17,610
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown CC39,360
Kildare County Childcare Committee16,875
Cork City Childcare Committee0
Kilkenny County Childcare Committee2,430
Cork County Childcare Committee7,530
Clare County Childcare Committee1,320
Dublin City Childcare Committee25,680
Kerry County Childcare Committee6,900
Leitrim County Childcare Committee2,820
Westmeath County Childcare Committee4,800
Monaghan County Childcare Committee4,230
Roscommon County Childcare Committee1,100
Waterford Childcare Committee1,020
Limerick County Childcare Committee6,750
Tipperary Childcare Committee Limited5,760

Table B

County2016/17 Payment
Galway City and County Childcare49,725
Donegal County Childcare Committee9,900
Meath County Childcare Committee35,798
Cavan County Childcare Committee8,500
Fingal County Childcare Committee56,340
Sligo County Childcare Committee7,560
Longford County Childcare Committee5,790
Carlow County Childcare Committee8,850
Mayo County Childcare Committee8,010
Wicklow County Childcare Committee27,480
Louth County Childcare committee29,835
Wexford County Childcare Committee12,375
Offaly County Childcare Committee9,000
Laois County Childcare Committee25,425
South Dublin Childcare Committee64,080
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown CC21,870
Kildare County Childcare Committee44,468
Cork City Childcare Committee11,790
Kilkenny County Childcare Committee16,065
Cork County Childcare Committee34,875
Clare County Childcare Committee18,608
Dublin City Childcare Committee81,180
Kerry County Childcare Committee16,950
Leitrim County Childcare Committee1,155
Westmeath County Childcare Committee18,938
Monaghan County Childcare Committee9,999
Roscommon County Childcare Committee7,000
Waterford Childcare Committee9,923
Limerick County Childcare Committee30,780
Tipperary Childcare Committee Limited13,590

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