Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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1336.To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth his views on a matter raised in correspondence by a childcare provider in County Cork (details supplied); regarding a specific core funding matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter.[34064/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Core Funding is a is a payment to Partner Services designed to support quality, sustainability, and enhanced public management. To receive Core Funding, Partner Services must uphold their contractual obligations as laid out in a Partner Service Agreement.

Pobal, on behalf of my Department are responsible for the day-to-day management of Core Funding in their role as Scheme Administrator. In addition, Pobal regularly correspond with Partner Services on issues pertaining to Payment.

Officials in my Department regularly engage with Pobal, discussing specific service requests, including requests for backdating. My Department is aware that Pobal has previously communicated that backdating for this specific service would not be possible in this instance. The Department has also replied to this service, through the representations system, informing them of the specific reason that backdating would not be possible in this case.

Special supports are available from my Department where a service is experiencing financial difficulty or has concerns about their viability. These supports are accessed through the services local City/County Childcare Committee (CCC).

The supports provided by local CCC’s include; assisting services with interpreting analysis of staff ratios and cash flow, as well as more specialised advice and support including financial supports as appropriate to the individual circumstances of Partner Services.

If any service is experiencing financial difficulty and would like support, I would encourage them to contact their CCC to access case management supports. Contact details for local CCC can be found at www.myccc.ie.

Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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1337.To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the plans to expand the number of childcare places in Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter.[34078/24]

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

My Department has in place a range of supports and funding schemes to support the delivery of early learning and childcare places but services are independently operated, either by community not-for-profit or by private for-profit providers.

This year, I established a Supply Management Unit within the Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare division of my Department. A key part of the Supply Management Unit’s remit is to develop a planning function for monitoring, analysing and forecasting of the supply and demand - akin to the Forward Planning Unit in the Department of Education.

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.

Data available to my Department shows that the level of capacity in the sector has risen substantially year-on-year between 2022 and 2023. 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 Supply Management Unit will oversee the administration of capital investment under the National Development Plan, through the Building Blocks Capacity Grant. The primary focus of the Building Blocks Capacity Grant Schemes is to increase capacity in the 1-3 year old, pre-ECCE, age range for full day or part-time care. Appraisal of applications for this 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. I hope to announce details of the Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme in the coming weeks.

My Department is currently engaging with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to examine and review the 2001 Planning Guidelines for Local Authorities on Early Learning and Childcare Settings with a view to updating them.

In addition, under the National Action Plan for Childminding, I have committed to opening up access to the National Childcare Scheme to parents who use childminders following the extension of regulation to childminders. This will increase the numbers of funded and regulated early learning and childcare places available.

In individual cases where parents in Galway are having difficulty finding a suitable early learning and childcare place, Galway Childcare Committee may be able to assist in identifying vacant places. The Committee will also support services in Galway that are considering applying under the Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme.