Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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211. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of service providers that dropped out of the ECCE scheme for the 2022-23 year; the number that did not register; the number that have indicated they will not re-register for the 2023-24 year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6259/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme provides universal, free pre-school to children in the eligible age range. The programme is provided for three hours per day, five days per week over 38 weeks per year and the programme year runs from the end of August to the following June in line with the primary school year.

Data provided by Pobal, who are the administrators of the ECCE programme on behalf of my Department shows that from the number of services offering the ECCE programme at the end of the 2021/22 programme year, 44 did not offer the ECCE programme in 2022/23.

There are however 119 new services offering the ECCE programme 2022/23 – therefore there has been a net increase of 67 services offering the ECCE programme this year.

The number of children registered/ expected to register on the ECCE programme 2021/22 and 2022/23 is broadly similar at 107,783 and 109,000 respectively

Providers are not required to notify Pobal of their intention to contract or otherwise to deliver the ECCE programme 2023/24 so this data is not yet collated.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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212. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will outline all the measures his Department has taken in the past two years to reduce the cost of childcare for parents; his plans to reduce these costs further for parents in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6262/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Significant investment has been made by my Department in the last 2 years to support parents with the costs of paying for early learning and childcare and there are a number of further measures planned in the future.

In September 2022, 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.

Between May and August 2022, I secured a fee freeze for the vast majority of providers through the Transition Fund to ensure parents would not be hit with increased early learning and childcare costs as the sector exited the pandemic supports and ahead of the introduction of the new funding model. 95% of providers joined the Transition Fund and committed not to increase their fees for that period. Fee Management measures continued from September 2022 underpinned with Interim Funding and Core Funding contracts.

Core Funding, which began in September 2022, is the new funding stream worth €259 million in full year costs. 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. Participation in Core Funding means that fees cannot increase above September 2021 levels for Partner Services. Core Funding also requires Partner Services to offer the NCS and/or ECCE to all eligible parents to ensure that parents can avail of their full entitlement to subsidised provision. The combination of the fee freeze plus access to increased subsidies ensures improved affordability for parents which is particularly important in the context of rising prices for goods and services across the economy. To date, 94% of services are signed up to Core Funding, ensuring that the fee management measures impacts very widely.

The introduction of fee management is one of the recommendations of the Expert Group in their report, Partnership for the Public Good. The fee freeze for the first year of Core Funding is the first step in this few management process and will be further developed in future years as more information about income and costs in the sector is analysed.

In addition to the core funding model, significant enhancements which have been made to the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) which have improved availability and affordability for parents.

- Previously, the scheme deducted hours spent in preschool or school from the applicants overall award under the income assessed subsidy. In May 2022, I announced the removal of this practice allowing applicants to use their full entitlement to subsidised hours for early learning and childcare.

- In September 2022, I also extended the universal subsidy of the NCS to include all children under 15 years of age.

- In October 2022 I announced additional funding of €121 million for the NCS to increase the universal subsidy from €0.50 per hour to €1.40 per hour. This measure aims to reduce the weekly childcare bill of families by 25% on average.

Currently most childminders are excluded from participation in the National Childcare Scheme, as a result of their legal exemption from Tusla-registration set out in the Child Care Act 1991. In April 2021, I published the National Action Plan for Childminding 2021-2028, which sets out a phased, incremental pathway for non-relative childminders to come into the scope of regulation, supports and subsidies.

In line with the National Action Plan for Childminding, in January this year I received approval for proposals to amend the Child Care Act to change the legal status of childminders. This change will make possible the future regulation of childminders and allow for access to the National Childcare Scheme to be opened in future to parents who use non-relative childminders, reducing the cost of early learning and childcare for those parents. I intend to open the National Childcare Scheme to childminders at the earliest possible opportunity, though it will be necessary first to develop and introduce childminder-specific regulations, and to give childminders adequate time and support to meet regulatory requirements.

Additionally, The end of 3 year review of the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) will commence at the end of 2023. The review will examine how effectively the NCS is operating, whether it is meeting the policy objectives and if further changes are needed.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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213. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the measures his Department has taken to reduce costs for those running crèches and childminding facilities; his plans to support them further with costs in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6263/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Government is investing significantly in the early learning and childcare sector and there is an ambitious new funding model being introduced to improve stability and sustainability for providers. There are supports, financial and otherwise, available to services who need them.

In September 2022, 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, the new funding model comprised of 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, is about getting the most out of the three early learning and childcare programmes, for children, parents, providers, the workforce, and society overall, and ensuring stability and sustainability in the sector.

Core Funding has a budget of €259 million in full year costs for year 1 of the programme (September 2022-August 2023). Core Funding is designed specifically as a supply-side funding stream, paid directly to providers, related to the costs of delivery. 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. The original allocation for year 1 of Core Funding in Budget 2022 was €207 million. I grew this to €221 million in early 2022 in response to cost pressures, and increased that again to €259 million in September 2022 based on significant capacity growth in the sector.

Core Funding is open to all Tusla registered services subject to their agreement to the terms and conditions of the funding, including financial transparency and fee management. Already 94% of services have signed up to Core Funding and the scheme remains open for applications.

Core Funding is a very significant new injection of funding into the sector and I have secured an increase of €28 million in the Core Funding envelope for year two of operation (September 2023-August 2024). Approximately €4 million of the €28 million will be used to remove the experience requirement on both graduate premiums under Core Funding. The remaining €24 million will be used for further developments and enhancements to the scheme, the precise allocation of which will be determined by evidence and analysis emerging from year one of the operation of the scheme and must be evidence based.

Services that are experiencing difficulty and who would like support are encouraged to contact their City/County Childcare Committee (CCC) to access case management supports. Services can be assisted on an individual basis through this route.

Additionally, early learning and childcare services are able to apply for the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS). Under TBESS, businesses engaged in early learning and childcare services who have suffered an increase of at least 50% in the average unit price of electricity and/or natural gas for the relevant billing period in 2022, as compared with the average unit price for electricity and/or gas for the corresponding reference period in 2021, are eligible under the scheme.

Due to the level of support provided over the past years through Covid-19 funding - estimated to be in excess of €1 billion - many early learning and childcare services are in a strong financial position. Available funding included the Temporary Wage Subsidy Childcare Scheme, Covid-19 capital grants, Reopening Support Payments, Ventilation grants, Playing Outside Grants, and the Transition Fund, in addition to the very substantial funding through the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme which covered the large majority of the wage bill for most services.

Stability and sustainability of early learning and childcare services is a top priority for Government, as demonstrated by the significant additional investment in the new funding model plus the wider whole-of-government supports for providers throughout the pandemic and now offered through TBESS. The Department, with Pobal and CCCs, will continue to engage with the sector and monitor the financial situation of early learning and childcare services, and supports are available where services face sustainability issues.

Budget 2023 allocates €1.025 billion to early learning and childcare – a clear demonstration from Government of the value of the sector. Together for Better aims to transform the sector and I am committed to working with Partner Services delivering early learning and childcare for the public good.