Written answers
Tuesday, 30 May 2023
Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
Early Childhood Care and Education
Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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51. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will provide details on the national childcare scheme, NCS; the number of providers that are signed up to the Together for Better funding model; the number of children who receive the NCS subsidy; if there are plans to expand the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25546/23]
Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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As the Deputy will be aware, in September 2022, I launched Together for Better, the new funding model for early learning and childcare. 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 Core Funding scheme. A fourth programme – the Equal Participation Model – is currently under development.
Over 4,200 providers or 95% of the eligible cohort - have now signed up and are fulfilling a range of conditions of this new funding model, including:
- maintaining fees at September 2021 levels so the full impact of recent changes to the NCS are felt; and
- offering the ECCE programme and the NCS to families, which has given rise to a 15% increase in the number providers offering the NCS in the last year.
Moreover, following Budget 2023, the minimum level of support under the NCS is now €1.40 per hour. For a family using 45 hours of early learning and childcare per week – this represents €3,276 off the cost of early learning and childcare per child per year.
Further enhancements to the funding model will be considered in the context of implementing remaining recommendations set out in Partnership for the Public Good. There is also a commitment to opening up the NCS to childminders in the National Action Plan for Childminding, which I have previously signalled would be a priority for me in this year’s Estimates process.
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