Written answers

Tuesday, 7 November 2023

Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

Childcare Services

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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71. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he has examined the sustainability of different segments of the childcare sector; and how he intends to use the additional resources allocated in the budget for core funding. [48355/23]

Photo of Roderic O'GormanRoderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Budget 2024 continues to improve investment for early learning and childcare with funding increasing by 8% or €83 million in 2024, to €1.109 billion.

€303.31m has been allocated for Core Funding in 2024, a 14% increase on the 2023 investment in the scheme. This substantial increase on the 2023 allocation will support continued implementation of the scheme for the second programme year, September 2023 to August 2024 and into the third programme year from September 2024, with additional funding of €14.65m being made available from September 2024.

The additional funding from September 2024 translates into a full year allocation of €331m for year 3 of Core Funding, an increase of €44m, or 15%, on the current allocation of €287m and will delivery a range of enhancements in Year 3 of the scheme to support improved affordability and accessibility for families, improved pay and conditions for the workforce and improved sustainability for providers.

  • €9.27m will support a 3% increase in capacity in the sector in year three of the scheme, driven both by new services joining the sector and existing services offering more places and/or longer hours to families;
  • The allocation for administration will increase by €3.21m; and
  • The allocation for non-staff overheads will increase by €10.07m to ensure the Scheme continues to keep pace with cost pressures facing services.
  • The remaining €21.49m will be used for other developments, to be informed by the emerging data from Year 2 of the scheme as well as the Financial Returns.
I introduced a number of targeted supports for small and sessional services in Year 2 of the scheme in order to improve sustainability of these services, specifically a flat rate top up of €4,075 for sessional-only services and a minimum base rate allocation of €8,150. These measures saw the average allocation under Core Funding for sessional-only service increase by 32% this year.

In a continued commitment to supporting these services, these measures will continue to apply in the 2024/2025 programme year.

Sustainability supports will continue to be available in 2024, and can be accessed through local City and County Childcare Committees (CCC).

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