Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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786. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will outline all of the supports and grants currently available for community-funded childcare facilities that are registered for the ECCE and NCS programmes. [55277/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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On 15 September, I launched Together for Better, the new funding model for early learning and childcare. This new funding model supports the delivery of early learning and childcare for the public good, for quality and affordability for children, parents and families as well as stability and sustainability for providers. Together for Better brings together three major programmes, the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, including the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) and the new Core Funding scheme.

Core Funding is designed specifically as a supply-side funding stream related to the costs of delivery. It is available to both community and private providers.  Core Funding is based on operating hours, number of places offered by services, and the age group of children for whom the places are offered, given the staffing requirements determined by the regulatory ratios for different care categories, as well as allocations for graduate leaders in services. Structuring Core Funding primarily based on capacity means that partner services have an allocation each year that does not fluctuate in line with children’s attendance.  Core Funding allows for substantial increases in the total cost base for the sector, related both to pay and non-pay costs, without additional costs being passed on to parents.

Core Funding contributes to services’ sustainability and significantly increases income for the overwhelming majority of services, including 97% of community service (1098 community services) and provides greater funding stability. Core Funding makes available €259 million to the sector in its first year of operation (September 2022 to August 2024).

In September, I also announced a €9m Capital Grant for the Early Learning and Childcare Sector. The Building Blocks - Improvement Grant is part of a wider Building Blocks Capital Programme for Early Learning and Childcare under the National Development Plan.  

Grants will range from €35,000 to €75,000 across two separate strands: Green Energy and Retrofit. The Green Energy Strand will support the Climate Action Agenda and the Programme for Government, which aim to transition to a carbon neutral economy by the end of 2050 and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030.

Services that sign up for the Core Funding Scheme are eligible for funding under for the Building Blocks - Capital Programme. The capital grant scheme opened to applications on Friday 28 October 2022 and the closing date is Friday 25 November 2022.  Successful applicants will be notified in early 2023.

The grant scheme is part of a wider Building Blocks Capital Programme designed to meet current and long-term Early Learning and Childcare infrastructure needs – with details of a €45m Building Blocks - Capacity Grant and a €15m Building Blocks - Innovation Grant to be announced in the coming months.

Community (not-for-profit) services which encounter financial or other sustainability concerns can avail of supports through the case management process.

My Department oversees this process, through which local City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs) and Pobal work together to assess and provide support to ELC and SAC services experiencing difficulties. CCCs administer on-the-ground case management assistance, co-ordinated by Pobal. This can include help with completing and interpreting analysis of staff ratios and cash flow, as well as more specialised advice and support appropriate to individual circumstances. In some instances, financial supports may be deemed appropriate in tandem with the case management process. Community early learning and childcare facilities can avail of this funding following a financial assessment by Pobal if deemed appropriate. Community services that are experiencing difficulty and who would like support are encouraged to contact their CCC to access these case management supports as the first step in this process.

The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme is a free universal two-year pre-school programme available to all children within the eligible age range. My Department provides funding to Early Learning and Care (ELC) services that sign an ECCE funding agreement and are Tusla registered.

An approved provider must have a minimum enrolment of eight ECCE eligible children per session. ECCE providers must also provide an appropriate pre-school educational programme, which adheres to the principles and standards of Síolta and Aistear, the national frameworks for early learning and care. 

The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) is a model of supports designed to ensure that children with disabilities can access the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme in ECCE registered services. Its goal is to empower pre-school providers to deliver an inclusive pre-school experience, ensuring that every eligible child can meaningfully participate in the ECCE Programme and reap the benefits of high quality early learning and care. Eligibility for AIM supports is linked to participation in the universal ECCE pre-school programme.  

AIM supports are grouped into universal or targeted. Universal supports are designed to create a more inclusive culture in early learning and care settings, through training courses and qualifications for staff. Where universal supports are not enough to meet the needs of an individual child, targeted supports are available to ensure the child can meaningfully participate in pre-school.  

Targeted supports might take the form of specialist advice and support, specialist equipment or appliances, minor building alterations, therapeutic intervention or extra assistance in the pre-school room.

The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) is the first ever statutory entitlement to support for childcare costs in Ireland.  The Scheme provides financial support to help parents to meet the cost of childcare. Budget 2023 introduced major reforms to the NCS from January 2023 that will substantially improve the affordability of early learning and childcare for families. Additional funding of €121m has been allocated from January 2023 so all families accessing registered early learning and childcare will receive a minimum hourly NCS subsidy of €1.40 off the cost of early learning and childcare.