Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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348. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if his attention has been drawn to the case of a preschool (details supplied) whose staff have been advised that they will have no access to their current accommodation from September 2023; and if there is any support or assistance available from her Department to ensure that the school can remain open. [5304/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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My Department funds a national network of County Childcare Committees (CCC) who can provide support to services, both private and community, where they are at risk of losing their premises and can provide assistance to identify alternative premises. In the event that no alternative premises are found, then the CCC can work with the provider and parents to secure alternative placements for families. The CCC should be the first point of contact for any service seeking support. Decisions about the day-to-day running of early learning and childcare services, including choice of location, any contracts or leases for premises and any decision to close is ultimately a matter for the provider.  I note in this instance that the South Dublin County Childcare Committee have been and continue to work closely with the service concerned.

In September, I was pleased to announce the Building Blocks – Improvement Grant, a €9m Capital Grant for the Early Learning and Childcare Sector.

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 closing date for this scheme was 16th December last and applicants will be advised of the outcome in March of this year.

The Building Blocks - Improvement Grant is part of a wider Building Blocks Capital Programme for Early Learning and Childcare under the National Development Plan.It is 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. Consideration may be given to the provision of capital funding for the establishment of new services under the Capacity Grant.

The Department of Education in consultation with representatives of schools has drafted Guidelines on the use of School Buildings Outside of School Hours to guide schools in the use of school facilities for other services, including early learning and childcare services. The guidelines are clear that the issue is a matter for the property owners taking into consideration the needs of the school, staff and students. The guidelines also require that any licence should include a term that the use of facility/portion of site covered by the licence must cease should it be required for school provision.

The guidelines are available here:

www.education.ie/en/Publications/Policy-Reports/guidelines-on-the-use-of-school-buildings-outside-of-school-hours.pdf .

These guidelines are not intended to be exhaustive or prescriptive but are provided to assist schools in considering applications for the use of their facilities.

In line with First 5, the Department of Education is to conduct a survey of a representative sample of schools on the use of school facilities for early learning and care and school-age childcare services. Work on this survey will commence in the coming weeks. The results of this survey will be used to inform a review of the Guidelines on the use of School Buildings outside of School Hours.