Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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535. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when grant approval will issue (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15422/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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My Department successfully secured €70 million under the revised National Development Plan (NDP) allocation for the Building Blocks Capital Programme, designed to meet current and long-term Early Learning and Childcare infrastructure needs.

The Building Blocks Capital Programme includes three Pillars:

- An Improvement Grant to improve energy efficiency standards, while also supporting the continuous improvement of the physical environment of services.

- A Capacity Grant to address capacity gaps, to fund an expansion in existing services and investing in the development of new services where most needed

- An Innovation Grant to pilot a range of innovative initiatives such as outdoor early learning and childcare services.

My Department has allocated €9m for The Building Blocks - Improvement Grant for Early Learning and School-age childcare facilities. 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.

The deadline for submission of applications was 16 December 2022. There was a very significant number of applications received and it is my intention that applicants will be advised of the outcome of the appraisal process shortly.