Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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35. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of childcare providers that have not reopened; and if he is satisfied that each child that requires a place has access to one. [22316/20]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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It is normal for some Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) services to close every year.

Services intending to close must notify the childcare regulator, Tusla. The most recent available data shows that 123 services notified their closure to Tusla for the period to 21 August 2020, while 39 new services notified their intent to open in the same period.

The number of services closing this year to date is actually slightly lower than the same time last year. 200 services closed in 2019 and 150 closed in both 2017 and 2018.

Services close for many reasons. A significant proportion of childcare services operate from the homes of childcare providers, and when these providers choose to retire, onward sale of the business can be very restricted. Others close for career or financial reasons.

For the 2020-21 programme year, 4,068 ELC and SAC services have already signed a childcare Funding Agreement with my Department and are open or intend to open in this programme year. This is already over 90% of last year’s numbers. I anticipate that additional services will sign Funding Agreements over the coming weeks.

Over the summer, despite many reports that services would not reopen, I am delighted to note that 94% of services did indeed open their doors.

I would like to thank and congratulate these providers for the hard work and commitment they showed to leading on the implementation of public health guidelines from June 29 and resuming their services for the benefit of children, families and indeed the economy.

My Department is not aware of any significant unmet need for early learning and childcare places since services began to reopen on 29 June. Indeed, due to lower parental demand, I am aware of many services that have vacancies.

If a parent is having difficulty in finding a place for their child, they should contact their local Childcare Committee for advice on childcare options in their area. Details can be found on myccc.ie

I am committed to continuing to work with the City and County Childcare Committees and representatives of providers to address any issues which may arise in the coming months.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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37. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the percentage of GDP that he hopes to achieve in terms of investment by the end of the term of this Government in line with the programme for Government commitment to increase investment in early years and school age childcare; and if he will increase investment year-on-year to achieve this goal. [22247/20]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Over the past five budgets, investment in Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) has increased by 141% - rising from €260 million in 2015, to €638 million in 2020. Despite this progress, investment in the area remains low by international standards.

In their latest calculation of Ireland’s expenditure on early learning and care, the OECD includes an estimate of the cost of primary school for children aged under 6 years.

This is to account for the fact that many children in Ireland start primary school at an earlier age than in other countries. Using this measure, Ireland spends an estimated 0.5% of GDP on childcare.

If the cost of primary school for children aged under 6 is excluded, Ireland spends just 0.2% of GDP on this area, compared to the OECD average of 0.7%. Our spending also falls short of the UNICEF-recommended investment level of 1.0% of GDP.

It is important to note however that Irish GDP is seen as a poor point of international comparison and work is underway to provide more analysis using an alternative benchmark. That being said everyone acknowledges we need greater investment.

The First 5 Strategy, commits the Government to at least double public spending on early learning and care services by 2028. This doubling of investment would increase Ireland’s position by €574m or by approximately an extra 0.2 per cent of GDP. Every 0.1% increase in spending as a share of GDP would cost an estimated €339m per annum.

A key vehicle to ensure that such significant additional investment delivers optimally for children, families and the State will be a new Funding Model.

An Expert Group to develop the new Funding Model was appointed in September 2019. The group will examine how additional public funding can be used to deliver higher quality, more affordable, more sustainable and more inclusive services.

This important project is recognised in the Programme for Government. I am pleased that Expert Group recently launched a programme of consultation and I greatly look forward to receiving their report next year.