Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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127. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth what actions he is taking in the short term to deal with the significant shortfall in places for infants under the age of two; if he is aware that some early years and childcare services have very high wait lists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19202/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Ensuring high-quality early learning and childcare is affordable and accessible is a policy priority. While there is clear evidence of a significant increase capacity in recent years, I am aware that the supply of early learning and childcare remains an issue, particularly for children aged 1-3. This is in a context of increased demand owing to the success of recent steps I have taken to address affordability.

My Department is progressing a range of actions to ensure the supply of early learning and childcare meets demand, with work in this area led by a new Supply Management Unit that I established earlier this year.

A key part of the Supply Management Unit’s remit is to develop a planning function for monitoring, analysing and forecasting of the supply and demand - akin to the Forward Planning Unit in the Department of Education. The Unit is engaging with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to progress the updating of the 2001 Planning Guidelines for Local Authorities on Early Learning and Childcare Settings and is also overseeing the administration of new capital investment under the National Development Plan, with two strands of funding rolling out this year and next under the Building Blocks Capacity Grant.

Applications for the first strand - the Building Blocks Expansion Grant Scheme for the renovation or reconfiguration of existing facilities to deliver additional capacity, particularly for children aged1-3 – are now closed. Pobal are currently appraising applications and I hope to announce the list of successful applicants next month.

I intend to announce details of the significantly larger, Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme next month. Under this scheme, grants will be available to early learning and childcare providers to physically extend their services to deliver additional capacity, also for children aged 1-3.

In addition to this work of the Supply Management Unit, other work across my Department will increase places among existing and new services and provide supports to families with young children.

Core Funding, which began 2022, has proven to be effective in expanding capacity. Year 2 of the scheme provided for capacity growth of 3%, which has materialised and for Year 3 of the scheme, further funding will be directed towards a further 3% increase in capacity in the sector - driven by existing services offering more places and/or longer hours to families and by new services in the sector.

Under the National Action Plan for Childminding, I have committed to opening up access to the National Childcare Scheme to parents who use childminders following the extension of regulation to childminders this autumn.

Under First 5, I have also introduced and extended Parent's Leave and Benefit to support parents to spend more time at home with their child, in their early years. From August this year, the combined durations of Maternity, Paternity and Parent’s Leave and Benefit will equate to 46 weeks leave for a two-parent family. Mothers also have an entitlement to 16 weeks of Additional Maternity Leave which is unpaid. As well as this, there is provision for up to 52 weeks of unpaid parental leave and the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act provides for a range of other measures to improve family-friendly work practices and support parents in the workforce.