Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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852. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of children getting support under the universal childcare payment of €1.40 per hour; and their distribution, by age, and by average weekly hours claimed. [40346/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides financial support to help families with their early learning and childcare costs. There are two types of subsidies available for children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years of age:- A universal subsidy which is not means tested and provides €1.40 per hour, for a maximum of 45 hours per week;- an income assessed subsidy which is means tested and will be calculated based on a family’s individual circumstances.

A total of 83,340 unique children have benefited from the NCS universal subsidy year to date in 2023. The breakdown of average hours claimed by age is in the table below.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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853. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of children getting support under the enhanced level of support available to those below an income threshold; and their distribution, by band of reckonable income, by age, and by average weekly hours claimed. [40347/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides financial support to help families with their early learning and childcare costs. There are two types of subsidies available for children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years of age:- A universal subsidy which is not means tested and provides €1.40 per hour, for a maximum of 45 hours per week;- An income assessed subsidy which is means tested and will be calculated based on a family’s individual circumstances.

A total of 79,083 unique children have benefited from the NCS income assessed subsidy year to date in 2023. The breakdown of weekly hours claimed by age and number of claims by income band are in the tables below.

Number of children with a NCS claim in 2023 year to date by the average hours claimed weekly under Income Assessed applications and age

Number of children with a NCS claim in 2023 year to date under Income Assessed applications by reckonable income band

* Households that apply for an income assessed application but are above the reckonable income threshold are awarded the universal subsidy rate and hours.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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854. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth how the hourly rate of support for childcare in different age groups is calculated in the different bands of reckonable income. [40348/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The rate for income-related National Childcare Scheme subsidies depends on the applicant’s reckonable income and varies from a minimum rate of €1.40 to a maximum of €5.10 per hour of childcare used. The table below shows the maximum and minimum income-related subsidy rates per hour, which vary according to the child’s age and the child’s education status.

• Income below €26,000Applicants with reckonable income (inclusive of any partner’s income) at or below €26,000 per annum qualify for the maximum hourly rate of subsidy depending on the child's age and education stage.

• Income between €26,000 and €60,000For applicants with reckonable income (inclusive of any partner’s income) between €26,000 and €60,000 per annum, the subsidy rate tapers downward as reckonable income rises, declining evenly from the maximum subsidy rate to the minimum subsidy rate.

• Income above €60,000

€60,000 is the maximum income threshold for the income-related subsidy. A family applying for an Income Assessed subsidy whose income exceeds the maximum threshold will receive a subsidy of €1.40 per hour in respect of each child on the application for whom a subsidy has been requested.

The following formula is used to calculate the rate of subsidy:

NS = the minimum subsidy rate (either €0 or €1.40),

XS = the maximum subsidy rate (which varies by age and education status),

MT = the maximum income threshold (€60,000),

BT = the base income threshold (€26,000), and

RI = the reckonable income.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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855. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of children benefiting from the core funding payment for childcare; their distribution, by age, and by hours delivered; and the number of children in classrooms led by graduate leaders. [40349/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Core Funding funds capacity (child places permitted) as per the Tusla Register, once that capacity is staffed appropriately, the Department's Core Funding data does not capture if the places are subsequently filled or not.

Core Funding is based on operating hours per week, operating weeks per year, 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.

Therefore data can be provided on capacity, at the peak of uptake for year 1 of Core Funding (June 2023), 283.35 million place hours were reported in Core Funding applications. Place hours account for hours offered to all children in Partner Services. These hours were distributed amongst the different age groups as follows:

At that point in time, there were 2,117 Graduate Managers and 4,525 Graduate Lead Educators reported in Partner Services, attracting premiums for 2,973,831.10 annual hours and 7,586,268.50 annual hours respectively.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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856. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he has considered innovations to reduce the amount of administration and record keeping associated with the core funding payment for childcare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40350/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I acknowledge the administrative burden for providers has increased with the introduction of new schemes, including Core Funding.

In addition to providing €27.2 million for administration under Core Funding this year, a number of steps have been taken this year to reduce the administrative workload under this Scheme.

A Universal Fee Table has been introduced, which will enable services to upload one single fee table that covers all DCEDIY schemes.

The Parent Statement has also been refined so that one agreement now covers all DCEDIY schemes and this only has to be signed once between the provider and parent irrespective of fee changes.

Moreover, applications for Core Funding included an auto-populated data function.

I have committed to engaging with a new sub-group of the Early Learning and Childcare Stakeholder Forum to facilitate further progress on this issue, with this work to commence in the coming months.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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857. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of hours funded under the free early childhood care and education scheme; the number of children who take it up, indicating those who complete two years; the hourly payment made to providers; and when this was last increased. [40351/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme is a universal two-year pre-school programme available to all children within the eligible age range. The programme is provided for three hours per day, five days per week over 38 weeks per year and runs from September to June each year, aligned with the primary school calendar.

To deliver this programme, pre-school providers receive a capitation of €69.00 per child per week.

For the programme year 2022-23 there were 108,605 children registered on the ECCE programme. Based on the latest data available from the Department of Education 83% of children availing of ECCE complete the two years with the remaining 17% choosing to start primary school rather than continuing with their second year of ECCE .

The ECCE capitation paid to pre-school providers increased by 7% in September 2018 from €64.50 to €69. The hourly payment for each child attending the ECCE service is €4.60.

On 15th 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.

The primary purpose of the new Core Funding scheme is to improve pay and conditions in the sector as a whole and improve affordability for parents as well as ensuring a stable income to providers. Core Funding is allocated to services based on the number of child places being made available (whether filled or not), the age group of children for whom the places are available and the number of hours the places are available for, as well as the graduate qualifications of leaders in the service. 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. Core Funding was worth €259 million in its first year of operation (September 2022-August 2023), and has increased to €287 million for the second programme year which began on 1 September 2023. Between ECCE and Core Funding, ECCE services will now get a minimum of €79.20 per child per week. This is before the additional graduate premium of €4.44 per hour and the flat rate of €4,075 per year for sessional-only services are added, where applicable. With 8 children, this €79.20 translates to a minimum of €42.24 per hour of ECCE service delivery; more commonly with 11 children, this will be €58.08 per hour to operate the service.

Budget 2023 allocates €1,025m to early learning and childcare – a significant increase in funding and a clear demonstration from Government of the value of the sector.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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858. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated number of children being cared for in the private home of the carer; the number of applications which have been made for the interim support to such carers; and what steps need to be taken before these carers could be included within the supports of the national childcare scheme. [40352/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The National Action Plan for Childminding 2021-2028 defines a childminder as a self-employed person, working in their own home, caring for children, at least one of whom is not related to them. Childminders who are currently minding four or more preschool children or seven children of any age, are required to register with Tusla and can already access National Childcare Scheme subsidies for parents. While only a small number of childminders are currently required to register with Tusla under the Child Care Act 1991, it is intended that the National Action Plan for Childminding will result in the opening up of the National Childcare Scheme to a much wider cohort of childminders. Data from Census 2022 indicates that nearly 53,000 children (aged under 15 years old) are currently cared for by childminders.

The main route through which parents are subsidised for their early learning and childcare costs is the National Childcare Scheme. The Childcare Support Act 2018, which provides a statutory basis for the National Childcare Scheme, specifies that only Tusla-registered providers are eligible to participate in the Scheme. The limitation of public funding schemes to Tusla-registered childcare providers helps to ensure that public funding is provided where there is assurance of the quality of provision.

The National Action Plan for Childminding sets out a plan for extending State support and regulation to childminding on a phased basis, with accelerated access to subsidies for families who use childminders through the National Childcare Scheme. The National Action Plan for Childminding commits to opening the National Childcare Scheme to non-relative 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.

The National Action Plan sets out a phased approach with a preparatory phase followed by an extended transition phase, to allow childminders a lead-in time for any requirements. This supportive, phased transition process aims to facilitate the largest possible number of childminders to enter the regulated sector, the sphere of quality assurance, and access to Government subsidies, while recognising the time and supports required for this reform.

Phase 1 of the Plan, which began in 2021, involves preparatory work, putting in place the building blocks of this major reform. Phase 1, which is expected to take 3 years to complete, includes developing new regulations and training that are specific to childminding, amending legislation, rolling out training, further research on costs and on ways to support childminders most effectively, and re-examining the funding and financial supports available for childminders.