Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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In January 2021 Pobal, on behalf of my Department, invited Early Learning and Care and School Aged Childcare services to submit applications for fire safety capital funding of between €1,000 and €10,000 to cover remedial works required to receive a Fire Safety Certificate.

As part of the application process, it was a requirement that all eligible expenditure would occur between 1st of January 2021 and 30th of November 2021. In signing up to any DCEDIY grant the service provider is obliged to familiarise themselves with the terms and conditions and any other communications that issue regarding the grant.

The Application Guidelines of the Early Learning and Care Capital Programme 2021 state that : 'All spending must be completed between the 1st of January and the 30th of November 2021.'This eligibility window was also published clearly on the Early Years Portal.

At the time of application the service indicated that the start date of their project was 06/01/2021 and that the end date was 05/02/2021. On the basis of this information the provider would have been considered eligible for the grant. At the time of verification, however, the expenditure submitted was found to be for works carried out in 2019, which is outside of the eligibility window for spending on the grant. It is this expenditure that is now deemed ineligible.

While my Department recognises the important work carried out by service providers and staff, it is vital to protect the integrity of the grant by ensuring that all funding is claimed correctly and in line with the terms of the grant. My Department therefore reserve the right to recoupment of monies against services that have not adhered to these terms.

My Department takes into consideration the concerns of the provider around their size and will ease the repayment burden by ensuring Pobal makes contact to offer assistance to the provider in arranging a repayment plan. In the event that the service feels that recoupment will cause sustainability concerns then I would urge the service to engage with Pobal to avail of sustainability supports.