Written answers
Thursday, 24 October 2019
Department of Children and Youth Affairs
Childcare Services Data
Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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268. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of children in crèches and childcare; the amount of subsidy being paid; the annual subsidy in the sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43947/19]
Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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Number of children in childcare:
My Department collates figures on the total number of children in early learning and care and school age childcare who are availing of one of my Department's programmes, which include the universally available programmes Community Childcare Subvention Universal (CCSU) and Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) . The number of children registered on each Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) programme, along with the cost, for the 18/19 programme year was as follows:
| Programme Call 2018/19 | Approved Child Registrations | Total Paid to date € |
|---|---|---|
| CCSP | 35,514 | 105,118,527 |
| CCSU | 33,780 | included in CCSP figure above |
| CCSRT - Transition | 432 | included in CCSP figure above |
| CCSR -Resettlement | 300 | included in CCSP figure above |
| CCS | 12,483 | 32,751,172 |
| ASCC | 228 | 432,440 |
| CEC (AS) | 686 | 872,797 |
| CEC (PS) | 670 | 1,700,025 |
| CETS | 1,929 | 5,803,419 |
| ECCE | 108,189 | 293,384,153 |
| Total | 194,211 | 440,062,534 |
| ECCE PSP* Payments | 9,439,029 | |
| CCS PSP Payments | 8,566,120 | |
| TEC PSP Payments | 609,828 | |
| Total PSP Payments | 18,614,976 | |
| Total Paid to date € | 458,677,510 |
The annual subsidy in the sector
The total expenditure on subsidies, capitation or PSP for 2018/2019 programme year amounts to €458,677,510. Approximately 4,500 services availed of this investment.
Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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269. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of crèches and crèche places that are operational, broken down by county and by status, that is, community or private. [43948/19]
Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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Each year Pobal conducts research on behalf of my Department to examine a number of factors related to childcare services in Ireland, including the monitoring of capacity. The Early Years Sector Profile report, which was published in November 2018 and relates to the 2017/2018 programme year, indicates that existing childcare provision nationally meets current needs nationwide in terms of capacity whilst recognising that small pockets of under-supply may exist within this.
The following table is the latest information available taken from the Pobal report
| County | Enrolled | Vacant places |
|---|---|---|
| Carlow | 2,057 | 68 |
| Cavan | 3,120 | 104 |
| Clare | 4,280 | 383 |
| Cork City | 4,246 | 295 |
| Cork County | 14,662 | 1,032 |
| Donegal | 6,575 | 882 |
| Dublin – Dublin City | 16,075 | 581 |
| Dublin – Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown | 6,357 | 224 |
| Dublin – Fingal | 11,149 | 450 |
| Dublin – South Dublin | 9,294 | 373 |
| Galway | 10,514 | 620 |
| Kerry | 5,625 | 186 |
| Kildare | 8,045 | 304 |
| Kilkenny | 3,944 | 195 |
| Laois | 3,695 | 298 |
| Leitrim | 1,437 | 74 |
| Limerick | 7,805 | 278 |
| Longford | 1,685 | 59 |
| Louth | 4,297 | 197 |
| Mayo | 4,509 | 331 |
| Meath | 6,996 | 355 |
| Monaghan | 3,623 | 190 |
| Offaly | 2,697 | 225 |
| Roscommon | 2,311 | 98 |
| Sligo | 3,144 | 88 |
| Tipperary | 6,662 | 437 |
| Waterford | 4,612 | 203 |
| Westmeath | 3,781 | 385 |
| Wexford | 5,724 | 281 |
| Wicklow | 4,276 | 224 |
| Total | 173,197 | 9,420 |
The majority of early years services are operated by private organisations. In 2017/18 private services accounted for 74% (3,342) of all services contracted to provide at least one of the three early years programmes, with community services accounting for the remaining 26% (1,201). Over recent years, there has been a slight increase in the number of private services while the number of community services has remained relatively constant.
For reference please see figure 3.2 from the Early Years Sector Profile report attached, which gives a breakdown of the number of services by county and percentage by organisation type in the programme year 2017-18, which is the latest data available.
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