Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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1887.To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of childcare providers in Cork, by local area, from 2019 to date, in tabular form. [32790/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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As the subject matter of the Deputy's question relates to an operational matter for Tusla, I have referred the matter to them for a direct reply.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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1888.To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of childcare providers in Cork that have pulled out of core funding, by local area, from 2019 to date, in tabular form. [32791/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The below figures account for services who had an active contract during the relevant programme call (i.e. between 14^thSeptember 2022 – 31^stAugust 2023 for year 1, 1^stSeptember 2023 – present for year 2) and have an application status of withdrawn – meaning they withdrew from the scheme and remained open.

Nationally, over 94%, or over 4,300, providers have signed up for Core Funding in year 2.

It is a matter for providers to decide whether they wish to withdraw from the Core Funding scheme, the significant financial supports it provides to providers and the certainty it provides to parents through the associated fee freeze. However, I am confident that given the level of investment and associated supports, services should not need to take this step.

While a provider may withdraw from Core Funding, they remain eligible in this programme year to provide the National Childcare Scheme (NCS), the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme and the Community Childcare Subvention Plus (CCSP) Saver programme.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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1889.To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the current average cost of childcare, by county, in tabular form. [32792/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Each year Pobal compiles data from early learning and childcare providers as part of the Early Years Sector Profile Survey.

The most recently published fee data for the 2022/23 programme year indicates that the average* weekly fee per child in early learning and care before subsidies was €190 for full day, €110 for part-time, and €75 for sessional.

There is a large degree of county-level variation in fees charged by services. Historically, fees have been higher in urban areas and along the East coast. As in previous years, the highest fees for all types of provision in 2022/23 were charged by services in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, where the average full-time fees were €264.79 for full day, €146.53 for part-time and €87.69 for sessional. Whereas the lowest full day fees (€150) and part-time fees (€85) were in Leitrim. The lowest sessional fees (€64.50) were in Leitrim and Donegal.

The average in-term hourly fee per child for school aged childcare before subsidies in 2022/23 was €5.00. The highest average hourly fee was charged by services in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and Cork City, where the average in-term hourly fee was €6.00. Whereas, the lowest average in-term hourly fee (€4.00) was in Leitrim.