Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I can confirm to the Deputy that I issued a response to this enquiry on 7 May.

The introduction of Core Funding in September 2022 brought with it a significant increase in investment for the sector, with €210.8m of brand new funding for the sector in its first year of operation. Its primary purpose 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.

Fee management introduced with this substantial investment under Core Funding follows the recommendations of the Expert Group, approved by Government, to first limit increases in fee rates.

This effectively freezes services fees at those they charged to parents in September 2021 to ensure that the introduction of Fee Management to the sector was done in a sustainable and considered manner. Increasing the Core Funding budget while maintaining the same level of conditions on fees, will help embed the Core Funding Fee Management system in the sector and prepare the sector for the ongoing development of fee management in future years.

Special supports are available from my Department where a service is experiencing financial difficulty or has concerns about their viability, accessed through local City/County Childcare Committee (CCC). This support can take the form of assisting services with interpreting analysis of staff ratios and cash flow, as well as more specialised advice and support appropriate to individual circumstances.

I would encourage any service experiencing financial difficulty and who would like support to contact their CCC to access case management supports. Contact details for the CCCs can be found at www.myccc.ie .