Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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317. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the extent to which he remains satisfied regarding adequacy of the provision of preschool teaching facilities throughout the country with particular reference to the more densely populated areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35724/21]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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325. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the degree to which he remains satisfied regarding the adequacy of crèche facilities throughout the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35727/21]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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326. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the extent to which he remains satisfied regarding the adequacy of crèche facilities throughout County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35729/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 317, 325 and 326 together.

Supply of, and demand for, early learning and care and school-age childcare places is currently monitored annually through the Early Years Sector Profile report. This survey is conducted by Pobal on behalf of the Department.

Data from the Early Years Sector Profile report indicates that nationally, 4690 services were contracted to provide at least one of the four DCEDIY funding programmes in 2019/2020. This represents an increase of 2%, from 4,598 in 2018/19. Of these services, 1214 (26%) were community services, while 3476 (74%) were private services.

Early Years Sector Profile data is also available by urban/rural breakdown, and at a Local Authority level. Of the national total, 65% (3,070) of services were located in urban areas and 35% (1,620) were located in rural areas (see Table 1). Notably, 61% of services in rural areas were smaller services, catering for 40 children or less. Conversely, of larger services catering for over 100 children, 72% were located in urban areas. The highest number of services, 450, was recorded in Dublin city, with the smallest number of services, 38, in Longford. A breakdown of community and private services can be found in Table 2. According to data from the 2019/2020 report, Kildare had the sixth highest number of services nationally, with a total of 199 services, of which 11 were community services, while 188 were private services.

Owing to the impact of COVID-19 on services, capacity figures for services are not available for 2019/2020. However, figures from previous years would suggest that nationally, supply currently meets demand, while acknowledging that some pockets of undersupply exist. In 2018/19 the overall estimated capacity was 218,745, representing an increase of 2% from the previous year. Local authority level data for Kildare evidences an increase of 17% in reported capacity between 2017/2018 and 2018/2019. Local authority level capacity data is provided in Table 3.

The number of vacant places increased by 13% in 2018/2019 to an estimated 12,444. The vacancy rate in 2018/19 was 6%, an increase of one percentage point from last year. The recorded vacancy rate in Kildare was 6% in 2018/2019, matching the national average rate. In 2018/2019 the settings in rural areas had a higher vacancy rate of 9%, compared to 5% of those in urban areas. In addition, the share of vacant places in urban services decreased from 57% in 2017/2018 to 55% this year.

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 early learning and care and school-age childcare. It has also supported the sector to increase the number of places available.

In previous years the creation of new places and new services were prioritised in the Department's capital programmes. 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. The Department’s capital programmes have increased capacity in the sector by 27,433 places nationally since 2015.

First 5, the ten-year 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. Also identified among the actions in First 5 is a commitment to strengthen capacity to accurately forecast supply and demand for ELC and SAC by undertaking a regular national needs assessment. In addition, officials in my Department are planning research on the ELC/SAC needs of parents who work atypical hours or live in rural communities.

Table 1: Urban/ Rural Services Breakdown

Table 2: Service Type by Local Authority

Table 3: Capacity by Local Authority