Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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98. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will comment on the recent early years pilot meals programme; to disclose the services that took part in the pilot and whether the programme will be widened; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32486/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The pilot meals programme was funded through Dormant Accounts Funding. €150,000 was allocated to test the provision of additional meals and snacks for children living in areas of high disadvantage. Pilot services also had the support of a dietician to support the delivery of meals to a high nutritional standard during the 6 week testing window. The delivery of the pilot was supported by Pobal. The pilot ended on 21 June.

The 9 services included in the pilot were:

Service 1: St. Margaret's Preschool, Ballymun

Service 2:  Little Treasures Community Service, Sheriff Street, Dublin City

Service 3: Sunbeams Playschool, Balbriggan

Service 4: Johnstown Community Childcare, Kilkenny

Service 5: Ballymore Community Childcare, Ballymore

Service 6: Kids Aloud, Baltinglass

Service 7: Little Bray Family Resource Centre, Preschool and Afterschool

Service 8: Traveller Visibility Group Gora, Community Childcare, Cork City

Service 9: Naíonra Cró na nÓg, Mahon, Cork

As part of the evaluation of the pilot, consultation is underway with children, parents, educators and service managers as to the value, experience, and impact of including hot meals and additional snacks into the daily routine of the service. 

The impact of the pilot and the views of all involved will be considered to inform a potential wider roll-out of nutritional supports to children experiencing disadvantage as part of the Equal Participation Model.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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99. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the steps he is taking to reduce childcare costs for families. [32535/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 99 and 107 together.

In 2023, the Government has for the first time allocated more than €1 billion to early learning and childcare – a clear demonstration from Government of the value of the sector.  

Within this, for its second year the Core Funding scheme will increase by €28 million, an 11% increase, to a total of €287 million. This is paid directly to providers to contribute to operating costs.

Core Funding includes targeted measures to support and fund smaller and sessional services. It also continues the fee freeze under Fee Management to ensure that parents’ costs do not increase and that the increased National Childcare Scheme subsidies are fully felt by parents.

The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) is a subsidy provided to help parents to meet the cost of childcare and allow children to access Early Learning and School Age Childcare.

My Department has made a number of recent enhancements to the NCS to reduce the cost of childcare for parents availing of the NCS, these include:

• The removal of the practice of deducting hours spent in pre-school or school from NCS awards, meaning that parents are able to use their full awarded subsidised NCS hours regardless of whether their children are in pre-school or school.
• The increase in the upper age eligibility for the NCS universal subsidy from 3 years to all children under 15 years.
• An increase in the NCS minimum subsidy from €0.50 to €1.40 per hour.

OECD data from 2018, before the introduction of the NCS in late 2019, showed that early learning and childcare costs in Ireland, relative to household income, were the highest in the EU for couples on low incomes and third highest for lone parents on low incomes, with couples paying on average 26.5 per cent and lone parents paying 25.2 per cent, compared to the EU averages of 9.6 per cent and 10.5 per cent respectively.

By 2021, early learning and childcare costs in Ireland fell to 14.2 per cent of net income for couples and 5.3 per cent for lone parents - compared to the EU averages of 8.1 per cent and 8.4 per cent respectively.

It is important to note that these data do not take account of enhancements made to the NCS in 2022 and early 2023 and the new fee management measures under Core Funding.

The NCS is specifically designed to allow for rapid changes to subsidies, income thresholds and certain other eligibility criteria as Government decisions are made and exchequer funding becomes available.

I am committed to increasing investment in early learning and childcare and any further changes to the NCS or Core Funding will be considered as part of Budget 2024 and announced on Budget day.