Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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157. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the full year value of the new core funding scheme; the breakdown of the allocation towards pay, graduate uplift, programme support payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13341/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Core Funding is a new funding stream for Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) services announced in Budget 2022 and informed by the work of the Expert Group to develop a new funding model for ELC and SAC, outlined in Partnership for the Public Good: A New Funding Model for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare.

Core Funding is a payment to providers designed to support quality, sustainability, and enhanced public management, with associated conditions in relation to fee control and cost transparency, incorporating funding for administration and to support the employment of graduate staff. Core Funding aims to offer better financial sustainability to providers in return for a cultural shift to a partnership relationship between providers and the State that reflects the public good dimension of ELC and SAC.

Core Funding will address some of the existing disparities in funding levels across ECCE and non-ECCE provision, providing funding proportionate to the age ratio of children being cared for and supporting the employment of graduate Lead Educators across Early Learning and Care provision, as well as Managers with a relevant qualification.

Core Funding will operate in addition to and alongside ECCE (at standard capitation rates), AIM, CCSP and NCS.  It incorporates ECCE Higher Capitation and funding previously allocated to the discretionary Programme Support Payments (PSP) from September 2022.

Instead of ECCE Higher Capitation, a Graduate Premium will be a feature of Core Funding.  This will make a payment to ELC services in respect of Lead Educators and Managers with a graduate qualification and the requisite experience.  This development means additional funding for graduate Lead Educators outside of the ECCE programme will be available for the first time.

Extra funding to support administration costs is also contained within Core Funding. This means that the budget previously allocated to Programme Support Payments, with an increased allocation, is now incorporated into Core Funding. 

The total available budget for Core Funding is €73.5 million in 2022 (September-December), equivalent to €221 million in a full programme year.   This level of allocation to Core Funding is contingent on an Employment Regulation Order being agreed by the Joint Labour Committee and in effect in time for the planned start date of Core Funding in September.

Core Funding will be allocated to services based on the capacity the indicate they will offer and the qualifications of those working in a service. €183 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), which includes allocations for improvements in staff pay and conditions (€138 million), for administrative staff/time (€25 million), and a contribution to non-staff overhead costs (€20 million). €38 million of the €221 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 precise implications of the funding for staff pay and conditions depends on the agreement by the JLC. However, I believe that the level of funding provided is significant enough to achieve a substantial improvement in levels of staff pay and the development of career frameworks. These are important points to improve quality in the sector, by supporting the retention and progression of staff.

Detailed information on the precise rates at which Core Funding will be paid in respect of different age groups and registration types of services was issued to services on 7th March.  An online tool is also available to services to assist them in estimating the value of Core Funding at an individual service level. 

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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158. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of early learning and care services that applied for sustainability funding in 2021; and the number that received funding. [13342/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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My Department received completed funding requests under the regular Sustainability Funding streams from three services in 2021. All three were approved. An additional two services had started the assessment process for the Early Intervention funding strand with Pobal, specifically seeking funding to contract an external consultant to provide advice on their business model. These services opted to pause the process until further information about Core Funding was available, so that any advice received would not be outdated. 

A specific strand of funding to support services impacted by the pandemic, COVID-19 Impact Support, was also offered in 2021. This strand had a separate application process. The strand attracted more interest, with 203 services applying. However, due to the impact of other pandemic support measures such as EWSS, the actual need for this funding was low. Following financial assessment as part of the application process, four services were awarded funding on the basis that it was genuinely required.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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159. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when the review of the operating system for early learning and care and school-age childcare will be published. [13343/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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In 'First 5, the Whole of Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families', my Department committed to completing a comprehensive review of the operating model for ELC and SAC. The objective of the Review is to ensure that the operating model is fit for purpose to implement policy relating early learning and childcare to the scale and standards required in an evolving and expanding sector, with the citizens of Ireland at its heart as core beneficiaries.

I am pleased to report that this Review has concluded and a report on the Review is being finalised. I look forward to bringing this report to Government in the coming weeks.