Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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1759.To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth his views on a matter raised in correspondence (details supplied) in relation to the availability of childcare places in Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31288/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Ensuring access to quality and affordable early learning and childcare is a key priority of Government.

I have recently established a new Supply Management Unit in the Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare division of my Department.

This unit is currently undertaking a forward planning project to identify the quantum and volume of different types of early learning and childcare places across the country, whether or not those places are occupied and how that aligns with the numbers of children in the corresponding age cohorts at local area level.

My Department has in place a range of supports and funding schemes, including The Early Childhood Care and Education programme (ECCE) and National Childcare Scheme (NCS), to support the delivery of early learning and childcare places by independently operated services, whether community not-for-profit or by private for-profit providers. The level of capacity in the sector has risen substantially year-on-year between 2022 and 2023 as evidenced by survey data collected by Pobal, by administrative data from Core Funding and the National Childcare Scheme and registration data collected by Tusla.

However, there is also evidence that demand for places is increasing and, for certain cohorts and in certain areas, outstripping supply. This is partly driven by the significant improvements in affordability that have been achieved in recent years and I acknowledge that some families experience challenges in accessing places, particularly for younger children.

The design of funding schemes and the increased allocation of resources to the sector is supporting ongoing expansion of capacity, and in particular for young children. The rates of both the National Childcare Scheme and Core Funding weighted towards funding for young children given the higher staff costs that are required to operate at lower ratios.

Additionally, capital funding has been allocated to the early learning and childcare sector under the revised National Development Plan (NDP). This will enable significant investment in further expansion of capacity. The aim of the Building Blocks Capacity Grant schemes is to tackle the undersupply of full-time and part-time places, particularly within the 1-3 age cohort. Appraisal of applications for these scheme considers the supply and demand in the area around the proposed projects and seeks to prioritise funding for areas with the biggest supply/demand mismatch.