Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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148. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when his Department will publish core funding proposals for childcare providers; when these proposals were meant to have been published by; and the timeline for their agreement. [13147/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Budget 2022 announced the introduction of the new Core Funding stream, the details of which were further articulated in Partnership for the Public Good: A New Funding Model for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare published in December 2021. 

Core Funding will be available to Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) providers for the 2022/2023 programme year, subject to an Employment Regulation Order being agreed by the Joint Labour Committee and coming into effect.

Core Funding is designed to meet the combined objectives of:

- Improved affordability for parents by ensuring that fees do not increase;

- Improved quality through better pay and conditions for the workforce by supporting agreement on an Employment Regulation Order through the Joint Labour Committee;

- Supporting the employment of graduate staff; and

- Improved sustainability and stability for services.

Under Core Funding providers will be supported in meeting their operating costs, including increased costs related to improved quality measures, in return for a commitment that fees to parents will not increase.  The commitment not to increase fees will ensure that the full affordability benefits of the ECCE programme and the NCS are felt by parents.

Core Funding is equivalent to €221 million in a full programme year. €182 million of the €221 million will be distributed based on the capacity that the service is offering to provide (child places, age groups, hours and weeks).  €39 million will be distributed in line with ELC graduate qualifications of ELC Lead Educators and Managers in ELC or combined ELC and SAC services.

The development of Core Funding is a significant milestone on the journey towards a new funding model. It aims to transform of the sector and establish a new type of partnership between providers and the State that reflects the importance of ELC and SAC for the public good.

On Monday 7^thMarch wrote to ELC and SAC providers to provide detailed information on how Core Funding will operate and to provide the rates at which it will be paid.  I also launched an online tool or Ready Reckoner which allows ELC and SAC providers to see the potential impact of this funding on their individual service. The Core Funding Ready Reckoner is accessible to all on the Early Years Hive and is designed to give an idea of what services can expect to receive based on their characteristics and to allow different scenarios of provision to be tested. Further information is available on the website of the Early Years Hive and support, guidance and training is available through .

The key dates in preparation for Core Funding becoming operational for the 2022/2023 programme year are:

- 7^thMarch: The online tool (Ready Reckoner) becomes available to provide approximate estimates of potential Core Funding values for individual services

- Stage 1 of the application process opens in April:

- Begins with the Sector Profile and Income and Costs Survey, which is a pre-requisite for application for Core Funding

- Stage 2 of the application process opens in June:

- Providers define their service’s profile and their capacity in detail in an online form

- Core Funding value is communicated to providers (subject to final verifications and confirmations)

- The provider contract will be published so applicants can review what they will later be asked to sign

- Stage 3 of the application process opens in August:

- Individual contracts will start to be made available to successful applicants for signature

- End August: payments to providers commence. Payments will be made monthly in advance throughout the programme year.

In the interim period, until April 2022, Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC) employers continue to be eligible to access the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) without having to demonstrate the reduction in turnover which is required of other employers.  EWSS has provided very substantial investment in the sector since August 2020. Following the cessation of EWSS at end April 2022, ELC and SAC providers will have access to a Transition Fund between May and August in advance of the introduction of Core Funding from September.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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149. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the engagements he or his Department have had with childcare providers in relation to the capping of parent's fees. [13148/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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On 7 December, I was pleased to launch a report on a new funding model for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare, entitled Partnership for the Public Good. This report was delivered by an Expert Group which was independently chaired and comprised national and international experts. The recommendations of the Expert Group are designed to deliver quality for children, affordability for

On 7 December, I was pleased to launch a report on a new funding model for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare, Partnership for the Public Good. This report was delivered by an Expert Group which was independently chaired and comprised national and international experts. The recommendations of the Expert Group are designed to deliver quality for children, affordability for parents, stability for providers, and support employers to improve pay and conditions for staff.

The Expert Group undertook a comprehensive programme of research and stakeholder consultation and engagement to inform their work over three phases. I am grateful to the wide range of individuals and organisations that took part in this programme of stakeholder consultation and engagement, including parents, providers and the workforce.  Phases 2 and 3 of the consultation process used the Early Learing and Childcare Stakeholder Forum as its reference group which include a large number of provider organisations.  Approaches to fee management were discussed throughout the programme of consultation, particularly during the Phase 2 sessions on Parental Affordability and Partnership between the State and Services.

Material relating to the work of the Expert Group, including their report, research papers and all outputs from stakeholder consultation, are available on a dedicated website, .

The work of the Expert Group informed the package of measures announced in Budget 2022. The introduction of fee management measures is one of the recommendations of the Expert Group, as approved by Government. Fee management will start with a requirement for providers to maintain fees at or below September 2021 levels to access the new Core Funding scheme and once-off Transition Fund.  Further information on proposed fee management mechanisms in the longer term is available in the Group's report.

Contingent on an Employment Regulation Order being agreed by the Joint Labour Committee, Core Funding will operate from September 2022 to support improved quality, affordability, and sustainability. Under the new funding stream, in return for a commitment that fees to parents will not increase, providers will be supported in meeting their operating costs, including increased costs related to improved quality measures, including staff costs. Core Funding will also contribute to cost increases related to non-staff costs (for example, utilities, rent).

The level of investment being made available for Core Funding is an acknowledgement that high quality ELC and SAC costs more than the current income to the sector. The aim of Core Funding is to allow providers’ costs to increase to improve quality but to ensure these costs are not passed onto parents in fees and that services are not made unsustainable.

ELC and SAC employers will continue to benefit from the exemption to the turnover rule for the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) until April 2022. Between the end of the EWSS and the introduction of Core Funding, a Transition Fund will be in place to support providers. The main conditionality of access to the Transition Fund will be that services do not increase the fees charged to parents above September 2021 levels.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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150. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of closures of childcare providers in each of the years 2017 to 2021, in tabular form. [13149/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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As the subject matter of the Deputy's question relates to an operational matter for Tusla, I have referred the matter to them for a direct reply.