Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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1884.To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he has received correspondence (details supplied); and if he will address the issues raised. [32777/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Investment in early learning and childcare is at unprecedented levels with public funding for the first time reaching more than €1 billion in 2023 – a clear demonstration from Government of the value of the sector.

The overwhelming majority of this funding is allocated through Together for Better, the new funding model, which comprises the ECCE programme including AIM, the NCS, Equal Start and Core Funding.

One of the key objectives of Core Funding is to support the sector as a whole with the introduction of direct supply-side funding, in addition to the other strands of funding, to create a more stable and sustainable financial environment.

Core Funding in Year 1 – with an overall allocation of €259 million contributed to services’ sustainability and significantly increased income for the overwhelming majority of services while providing greater funding stability.

For Year 2 of Core Funding, the budget increased by 11% to reach €287 million, providing a sustainable platform for investment with increases for all services.

Budget 2024 provided for a full year allocation of €331m for year 3 of Core Funding, an increase of €44m, or 15%, on the current allocation of €287m.

For the third programme year, my Department will introduce a process whereby services whose fees are below their county average can apply for an assessment to increase their fees to an approved level.

This will be an application-based process whereby a Partner Service, as a private business offering a service for the Public Good, will undergo an assessment to determine the need to increase fees. Where the need is identified, permission will be granted to increase fees to a level determined by the Department.

This measure must balance the need of parents/guardians for stability with their early learning and childcare costs and the need for providers to operate viable businesses in order to continue providing this public good service for their community. Therefore, a core element of this process is the requirement to demonstrate the need for an approved fee increase.

Partner Services must meet the following eligibility criteria in order to be assessed for an approved fee increase:

• Have submitted their 2022/2023 financial returns, if the service was a Partner Service in contract for any part of the first year of Core Funding.
• Have submitted their 2024/2025 Partner Service fee table on the Early Years Platform (EYP), and confirmed the accuracy of the information contained in this through the submission of their 2024/2025 Partner Service Parent Statement.
• Have activated a Funding Agreement for Core Funding 2024/2025 on the EYP.
• A minimum of one of their fee entries must be below the county average.

• Phase 1 Partner Services who have not increased their fees since programme year 2017/18
• or before. Applications open on 31 July 2024.
• Phase 2 Partner Services who have not increased their fees from programme year 2018/19
• to September 2021. Applications open on 7 August 2024.
• Phase 3 All other Partner Services. Applications open on 19 August 2024

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).