Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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598. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of ECCE places available; and the number of ECCE eligible children by county in tabular form. [21543/19]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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600. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of children on waiting lists for an ECCE place by county in tabular form. [21545/19]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 598 and 600 together.

Please see the following table which outlines the current Early childhood Care and Education (ECCE) registrations per county:

My Department records the breakdown of childcare waiting lists by age cohort rather than by programme. In 2017/18, services reported a total of 173,197 children enrolled in early years services and 9,420 vacant places across Ireland. The table below presents the number of children enrolled and on a waiting list that are approximately within the ECCE eligible age range, as well as the number of vacant places by age cohort. Pre-school children (those aged 3+ to 5 years) represent the largest cohort of children attending childcare services, accounting for 59% of all children enrolled.

My Department does not currently collect information relating to children who are not registered

for supports under a DCYA programme. However, the estimated number of children expected to enrol on the ECCE Programme for 2019/20 may be of relevance in this context. These estimates are derived using a number of data sources, including population data provided by the CSO and data on school starting age from the Pupil Online Database held by the Department of Education and Skills. It also reflects consistent trends in uptake of the ECCE Programme, which is in the region of 95% of the eligible cohort. It excludes children within the eligible cohort who may choose to enrol on other DCYA funded programmes.

Drawing on previous analysis from the Forward Planning Unit in the Department of Education and Skills on the estimated number of children in each Local Authority that are within the eligible age range for the ECCE programme, the estimated number of children enrolling in ECCE for the 2019/20 programme year in each Local Authority is provided below.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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599. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the amount of funding provided to each community childcare committee by county in each of the past five years in tabular form. [21544/19]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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Some 33 City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs) were established in 2001 to advance the provision of childcare facilities in their local areas. They comprise local representatives from the statutory, community and voluntary sectors, childcare providers and parents. There are now 30 CCCs, as Limerick City and Limerick County CCCs have amalgamated, as have Waterford City and Waterford County and North and South Tipperary. Each committee has a distinct legal identity and board of directors.

The CCCs support the delivery of the childcare programmes operated by my Department. They also perform a range of activities to promote the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) including providing information and support for parents and ECCE settings. They are also responsible for rolling out the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) training programme to pre-school practitioners nationwide. They provide support and guidance to local service providers and parents in relation to the childcare programmes and support quality in keeping with national frameworks and policy objectives. CCCs are also available to co-ordinate and provide training to providers and offer support to families with regard to Early Years services within their respective catchment areas.

The information requested by the Deputy is outlined in the tables below. These tables outline the core funding allocated annually to each CCC from 2015 to 2019, as well as funding provided in respect of AIM and EDI, and in 2019 funding in support of nationwide training in preparation for the forthcoming National Childcare Scheme . My Department also provides additional annual funding to the CCCs to support a number of initiatives including the administration of the Childminding Development Grant, the Parent and Toddler Initiative, Learning Funding, and funding to support the work of the National Early Years Children First Committee.

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019