Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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1326.To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the action that is being taken by his Department to ensure that price rises by childcare facilities do not exceed planned increases to subsidies within the national childcare scheme (NCS), given that some creches have decided to increase their fees in line with increases to the NCS; and if he will make a statement on the matter.[33985/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The introduction of Core Funding in 2022 brought a significant increase in investment for the sector, with €259 million of funding paid directly to services in year 1 of the scheme, of which €210.8 million was entirely new funding.

This funding, which increased by 11% (to €287 million) in year 2, will increase again by another 15% in year 3 (to €331 million). This will facilitate the following changes from 2 September:

The Base Rates for all age groups are increasing with larger increases in funding for places offered to children under the age of three. In short, all providers currently signed up to Core Funding will receive a higher payment going forward to support their day-to-day costs.

The flat rate for services registered on the Tusla Early Years Register as sessional-only (a pre-school service offering a programme for a total of not more than 3.5 hours per session) is increasing from €4,075 to €5,000. This will strengthen supports to sessional-only services, who typically operate for shorter hours per week and fewer weeks per year.

The minimum Base Rate allocation is increasing from €8,150 to €14,000. This is the minimum amount of funding a centre-based service (not childminders) will receive through their Base Rate, and ensures a minimum guaranteed income for services. This increase supports for smaller services and services operating in rural areas, who may be prone to fluctuations in demand.

The maximum Base Rate allocation is decreasing from €600,000 to €500,000. Services will not receive funding through the Base Rate beyond this maximum value. Any service receiving more than this maximum value will see their Base Rate funding reduce to this level.

There are also developments to the fee management system.

Up to now, services availing of Core Funding have not been allowed to raise their fees above what was charged to parents on 30 September 2021 (or at the point of first signing up for Core Funding if the service did not exist on 30 September 2021).

The fee freeze will remain in place for the majority of these services for year 3 of Core Funding, though there are two new developments:

Services whose fees have been frozen at a level that may not be sufficient to sustain their business even with increased funding available through Core Funding, will have the opportunity to apply for a Fee Increase Assessment. Only services currently charging low fees (fees below the average in their county) will be eligible to apply.

A cap on fees is being introduced for services joining Core Funding for the first time in the third year. A fee cap will apply to all services in Core Funding from September 2025.

Where a demonstrable need to increase a fee is confirmed, increases will be approved by my Department at the lesser of:

the level of increase required following an assessment of the service, or

the equivalent increase in NCS universal subsidy for parents/guardians

Services in contract for Core Funding who increase their fees without approval by my Department will be in breach of the Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement.

Where an individual identifies a case of a potential breach of Core Funding fee rules by a service, they may seek to have this examined and a conclusion reached through the Core Funding Fee Review process.

My Department would encourage any parent with concerns or questions about fees to contact their local CCC for support and guidance or to initiate a Core Funding Fee Review. The first point of contact for parents and providers in the Core Funding fee review process is their local CCC. Contact details for CCCs may be found on www.myccc.ie.

In addition to the increased level of Core Funding for year 3 of the scheme and fee management developments, there are wider financial supports available from the Department where a service is experiencing financial difficulty or has concerns about their viability, which can be accessed while remaining within Core Funding.

Services are strongly encouraged to avail of these supports as an alternative to withdrawing from Core Funding and removing the benefit of Core Funding to children and their families.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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1327.To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the actions that are being taken to incentivise crèches and childcare services to remain within core funding grant for early learning and care providers; the incentives that are available for services that have left the scheme to return; and if he will make a statement on the matter.[33986/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The introduction of Core Funding in 2022 brought a significant increase in investment for the sector, with €259 million of funding paid directly to services in year 1 of the scheme, of which €210.8 million was entirely new funding.

This funding, which increased by 11% (to €287 million) in year 2, will increase again by another 15% in year 3 (to €331 million). This will facilitate the following changes from 2 September:

The Base Rates for all age groups are increasing with larger increases in funding for places offered to children under the age of three. In short, all providers currently signed up to Core Funding will receive a higher payment going forward to support their day-to-day costs.

The flat rate for services registered on the Tusla Early Years Register as sessional-only (a pre-school service offering a programme for a total of not more than 3.5 hours per session) is increasing from €4,075 to €5,000. This will strengthen supports to sessional-only services, who typically operate for shorter hours per week and fewer weeks per year.

The minimum Base Rate allocation is increasing from €8,150 to €14,000. This is the minimum amount of funding a centre-based service (not childminders) will receive through their Base Rate, and ensures a minimum guaranteed income for services. This increase supports for smaller services and services operating in rural areas, who may be prone to fluctuations in demand.

The maximum Base Rate allocation is decreasing from €600,000 to €500,000. Services will not receive funding through the Base Rate beyond this maximum value. Any service receiving more than this maximum value will see their Base Rate funding reduce to this level.

There are also developments to the fee management system.

Up to now, services availing of Core Funding have not been allowed to raise their fees above what was charged to parents on 30 September 2021 (or at the point of first signing up for Core Funding if the service did not exist on 30 September 2021).

The fee freeze will remain in place for the majority of these services for year 3 of Core Funding, though there are two new developments:

Services whose fees have been frozen at a level that may not be sufficient to sustain their business even with increased funding available through Core Funding, will have the opportunity to apply for a Fee Increase Assessment. Only services currently charging low fees (fees below the average in their county) will be eligible to apply.

A cap on fees is being introduced for services joining Core Funding for the first time in the third year. A fee cap will apply to all services in Core Funding from September 2025.

Where a demonstrable need to increase a fee is confirmed, increases will be approved by my Department at the lesser of:

the level of increase required following an assessment of the service, or

the equivalent increase in NCS universal subsidy for parents/guardians

In addition to the increased level of Core Funding for year 3 of the scheme and fee management developments, there are wider financial supports available from the Department where a service is experiencing financial difficulty or has concerns about their viability, which can be accessed while remaining within Core Funding.

Services are strongly encouraged to avail of these supports as an alternative to withdrawing from Core Funding and removing the benefit of Core Funding to children and their families.

While it is my ambition to have as high take-up as possible, a small proportion of early learning and childcare services – approximately 5% overall - chose not to join Core Funding in Year 1 and Year 2. Applications for Year 3 of Core Funding are on par with the same period last year and remain open to all eligible services to apply.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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1328.To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the funding options for a new community crèche to provide daycare in a facility (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter.[33998/24]

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.

In addition to supporting the delivery and expansion of services through the range of current funding schemes, my Department is also delivering capital investment through the Building Blocks Capacity Grant. The scheme will operate in 2024 and 2025 through two strands, an Expansion scheme and an Extension scheme to support existing services to increase capacity. Participation in Core Funding is a requirement of both strands.

The Expansion scheme offered funding for internal reconfiguration projects valued at between €50,000 and €100,000 that increase capacity. This scheme is now closed and Pobal have recently notified the applicants of the outcome of the appraisal process.

I recently announced details of the second strand, the Building Blocks - Extension Scheme. Under the Scheme, €25 million in capital funding will be made available to deliver thousands of additional early learning and childcare places.

The Extension Scheme will offer funding for larger scale projects to enable existing services to build new capacity on their current premises. Under the scheme, community providers may apply for funding between €100,000 and €500,000 for extensions to existing premises. Alternatively they may apply for grants of between €300,000 and €650,000 to purchase or construct a new premises. Match funding will not a requirement for community providers.

I hope to issue further details of this scheme, including details of the application process, in the coming weeks.

The primary focus of the Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme is to increase capacity in the 1-3 year old, pre-ECCE, age range for full day and part-time care. As part of the application process, providers will have the opportunity to outline the specific circumstances for their service in their community that demonstrate evidence of need which will be considered as part of the appraisal process.

The network of City and County Childcare Committees will provide assistance to services that are considering applying under the scheme.