Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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459. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of Tusla registered creches, by county. [50978/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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There are 4,496 early years services registered with Tusla. The following table contains a breakdown of these services, by county, as requested by the Deputy.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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460. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the capacity of Tusla registered creches, by county. [50979/17]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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461. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the capacity of Tusla registered creches for the provision of care to children under one year of age, by county. [50980/17]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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462. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the capacity of Tusla registered creches for the provision of care to children under two years of age, by county. [50981/17]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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463. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the capacity of Tusla registered creches for the provision of care to children under three years of age, by county. [50982/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 460 to 463, inclusive, together.

The capacity of Tusla registered crèches, by county, is as follows.

It is important to note that the information provided refers to the number of children each service states it can accommodate at registration. The figures refer to the number of children the service can accommodate at any one time and do not capture the total number of children in daily or weekly attendance. For example, a sessional service may have a capacity of 80 children but can cater for up to 160 children in a single day by running morning and afternoon sessions.

Tusla does not collate information on capacity by age range.

However, my Department does hold the requested data for those childcare providers who are in contract with my Department to run one of the Government childcare schemes (ECCE, CCS and TEC) through the Early Years Sector profiles. While this would not account for all Tusla registered childcare providers, it must be noted that in order to enter into contract with my Department, a provider must be registered with Tusla.

The most recent data on capacity within childcare services is contained within the Early Years Sector Profile 2016 - 2017. 3,707 providers responded to the survey in May 2017 (representing a response rate of 84%), with the Profile published in November 2017. The following tables outline the capacity for the all age ranges, 0-12 months, 12-24 months, and 24-36 age range per county, as reported in the 2016-2017 sector profile. The response rate for each county is also included.