Written answers

Wednesday, 3 March 2021

Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

Early Childhood Care and Education

Photo of Kathleen FunchionKathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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582. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of early leaning and care and school age childcare services that have and have not, respectively signed up to the enhanced payment under the 1 February to 5 March 2021 funding measures by service type. [11079/21]

Photo of Roderic O'GormanRoderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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My Department is committed to ensuring that overall investment in the early learning and care (ELC) and school age childcare (SAC) sector is maintained and that services are sustained through this crisis.

On 26 January, the Government made the decision to extend the suspension of the free pre-school ECCE programme and to continue to restrict access to childcare services to the children of essential workers and to vulnerable children until 5 March, to help to control the spread of Covid-19 in the country.

On 27 January, the Department announced a new funding model for childcare providers from 1 February to 5 March. This new funding arrangement ensures that childcare services can remain open where they have demand for places for the children of essential workers and vulnerable children.

As part of this funding model, providers were given the option to opt into certain terms and conditions to receive enhanced payments. The payments available varied depending on the service type and whether they were open or closed.

As of 01 March 2021, 4,387 active services have at least one DCEDIY scheme countersigned contract and/or budget approval and are therefore eligible to apply for enhanced payments.

For providers within those 4,387, which are particularly dependent on parental fees, a special Covid Operating Support Payment was made available as part of these enhanced payments. 1,309 services have been deemed eligible for this payment, of which 1,226 have opted to sign up.

3,952 services signed up to have signed up to the enhanced payment under the 1 February to 5 March 2021 funding measures. The breakdown is as follows

Service Type Confirmed T&Cs
ECCE and providing other Programmes 2,148
ECCE Only 1,466
Other Programmes but no ECCE 338
Total 3,952

Photo of Kathleen FunchionKathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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583. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the level of funding distributed by his Department to early learning and care and school age childcare services on a monthly basis from March 2020 to January 2021, by funding scheme type. [11080/21]

Photo of Roderic O'GormanRoderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth provider runs a number of schemes which are available early learning and care and school age childcare services. The schemes are administer by Pobal on behalf of the DCEDIY.

The following table includes the Department’s core funding programmes and supports

- Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)

- AIM level 1

- AIM level 7

- National Childcare Scheme (NCS)

- Community Childcare Subvention Plus (CCSP)

- Training and Employment Childcare Scheme (TEC)

- Programme Support Payment (PSP)

- Crisis Management

In 2020 the DCEDIY introduced a number of schemes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic which have also been included in the following table.

- Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme

- Reopening Grant

- COVID Capital

The negative values are a combination of reclassification of funding, as a result of the impacts of Covid-19 on the sector and of year-end overpayment adjustments.

Table: Payments to Services March 2020 to January 2021 (€m)

Programme Mar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20 Jan-21
ECCE €30.86 €1.00 -€0.31 €0.10 €0.34 €24.93 €28.43 €30.14 €31.68 €3.35 €52.23
AIM Level 1 €0.44 €0.00 €0.00 €0.00 €0.00 €0.00 €0.66 €0.63 €0.69 €0.00 €0.51
AIM Level 7 €3.00 €0.02 -€2.90 €0.00 -€0.17 €0.01 €3.25 €2.69 €2.01 €0.17 €2.23
NCS €3.22 €2.68 -€0.68 €0.00 €3.09 €3.35 €6.00 €6.35 €7.55 €9.07 €7.76
CCSP (Savers) €7.97 €2.66 -€1.88 -€1.34 €8.11 €8.19 €1.96 €3.59 €4.31 €3.60 €6.15
TEC €0.56 €0.14 -€0.11 €0.00 €0.09 €0.06 €0.12 €0.13 €0.11 €0.08 €0.09
ECCE PSP €0.03 €3.22 €0.00 €6.23 €0.00 €0.00 €0.00 €0.12 €0.00 €0.01 €0.00
NCS & Savers PSP €0.03 €2.95 €0.00 €6.04 €0.00 €0.00 €0.00 €0.41 €0.00 €0.00 €0.00
Crisis Management €0.00 €0.00 €0.00 €0.00 €0.00 €0.01 €0.00 €0.03 €0.52 €0.19 €0.00
TWSC €0.00 €22.18 €28.60 €7.42 €0.39 -€0.07 €0.01 €0.67 -€2.65 -€0.83 -€0.60
Reopening Grant €0.00 €0.00 €0.00 €0.00 €10.32 €2.11 €0.70 -€0.02 -€0.00 €0.00 -€0.01
COVID Capital €0.00 €0.00 €0.00 €3.97 €6.27 €2.06 €0.70 €0.01 -€0.01 -€0.01 -€0.00
Total €46.12 €34.85 €22.73 €22.43 €28.44 €40.65 €41.82 €44.75 €44.21 €15.62 €68.36
Funding

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