Written answers
Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Department of Children and Youth Affairs
Child Care Services Data
Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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456. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of children eligible under bands A, AJ, B and D, respectively, by age bracket. [50975/17]
Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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457. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the funding that her Department provided to bands A, AJ, B and D in 2017; and the amount she has allocated to same in 2018. [50976/17]
Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 456 and 457 together.
In the 2017/2018 programme year the bands and eligibility have changed with children who would have qualified for band B in 2016/17 now being spilt between band B and a new band, band D. These ‘September Measures’ include a universal payment together with an average 50% increase to the band rates of the CCS/CCSP targeted schemes.
It is estimated that the full-year cost of extending childcare subsidy rates for band A, band AJ and band B beneficiaries of the CCS scheme, in addition to the new band D being created in respect of children who are entitled to hold the over 6 GP visit card and a new universal payment (for children who are between the ages of 6 months until the age they qualify for entry into the ECCE scheme) would be approximately €90 million (€20 million of which relates to CCSU). It should be noted that these estimates are subject to fluctuations based on numbers of eligible children registering and parental behaviours in relation to attendance etc.
Funding for childcare programmes is allocated by programme, not by band. To assist the Deputy in her query I am providing the following table which shows a breakdown of the costings for the number of children for the 2016/17 & 2017/18 programme years.
| 2016/17 costs | 2016/17 No. of children | 2017/18 Estimated costs | 2017/18 CCS* No. of children | 2017/18 CCSP No. of children | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Band A | €27,739,819 | 14,121 | €60 m | 12856 | 5779 |
| Band AJ | €5,841,370 | 4,459 | €12 m | 2086 | 1322 |
| Band B | €6,621,952 | 8,452 | €12 m | 3213 | 4475 |
| Band D | N/A | N/A | €6 m | 421 | 304 |
*These figures relate to the proposed band rate as CCS registrations are still provisional.
Please note the figures for 2017/18 are up to date however registrations continue to come in throughout the year.
A child must be under 15 years of age to be eligible for CCS & CCS Plus, all figures in the above table relate to this age bracket.
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