Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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938. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the progress being made in relation to the provision of part-time and wrap-around childcare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30713/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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A key policy objective of my Department is to improve affordability, accessibility and quality of Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC). A 141% increase in investment over the last number of years has led to a doubling in the number of children receiving free or subsidised ELC and SAC. It has also supported the sector to increase the number of places available.

The supply of, and demand for, ELC and SAC places is currently monitored annually through the Early Years Sector Profile report conducted by Pobal on behalf of my Department. While enrolment data for 2019/20 was not available owing to COVID-19, data from previous years demonstrates increases in capacity.

Capacity is calculated by summing the number of children enrolled and vacant places. Figures are extrapolated to represent 100% of services. Overall extrapolated figures show an increase from 202,082 places overall in in 2016/2017 figures to 218,745 in 2018/2019, representing an overall increase in capacity of 6% which is equivalent to 16,663 places.

Capacity figures broken down by 'session type' are higher than overall capacity figures as children may participate in more than one session (e.g. breakfast club and after-school). Table 1 presents change in capacity over time by session type. These figures highlight an increase in capacity of part-time places from 28,467 in 2016/2017 to 29,447 in 2018/2019.Capacity recorded for both after-school care and breakfast club places increased over this time; from 37,139 to 44,499 and 8,120 to 12,478 respectively.

Table 1: Capacity by session type

Pre-COVID, the creation of new places was a key commitment of my Department’s capital programmes, with 27, 433 additional places created since 2015. Many community facilities, and some private facilities, were built using public investment through the major capital investment programmes, Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme (2000-2006) and the National Childcare Investment Programme (2006-2011). Since then, annual capital programmes have provided investment for establishment of new provision, expansion of services, quality improvements and maintenance and upgrades to existing facilities in both the private and community sector.

First 5, the ten-year whole-of-Government strategy for babies, young children and their families commits to maintain and extend the supply of high-quality publicly subsidised early learning and childcare to best serve the developmental needs of babies and young children, ensuring that it also reflects the needs and preferences of parents and families. To deliver on this strategic action, a range of actions are under way, including the development of a strategic capital investment plan to deliver large-scale capital investment under Project 2040, and the development of a new funding model for ELC and SAC.

An Expert Group has been convened to examine the current model of funding and its effectiveness in delivering quality, affordable, sustainable and inclusive services. The Expert Group will recommend how additional resourcing can be delivered for the sector to achieve these objectives, drawing on international practice in this area. It is expected that a report on the Expert Group’s recommendations on the new Funding Model will be submitted to me in November 2021.