Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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290. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if it is possible for his Department to purchase a childcare facility (details supplied) in Mayo and run it as a community crèche; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42149/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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New Partner Service is defined strictly to mean services that were not in existence on 30 September 2021. Services that have made changes such as name, address, owner, or legal structure do not qualify as new Partner Services. If a Partner Service undergoes a closure and has been closed for over 6 months and has fully deregistered with Tusla, and subsequently a new service registers under Tusla, this will be considered to be a New Partner Service.

This was implemented to ensure that parents do not experience an increase in fees when there has been no material change to their service. The Department does not and historically has not viewed changes in ownership, address, or legal entity as a material change. If a service, whether under previous or new ownership, believes that their service requires a fee increase, the Department has provided a new Fee Increase Assessment and Approval Process whereby an eligible Partner Service may apply to increase their fees up to an approved level.

It is important to note, where there is a change in ownership, the new owner can remain open and avail of Core Funding during the take-over without having to close as long as there is not an increase in fees.

The Building Blocks Capital Schemes, which are operating over 2024 and 2025, are supporting services to increase capacity through two strands, the Expansion Scheme, with applications now closed, and the Extension Scheme due to open for applications later this year.

The Extension Scheme will provide €25 million in capital funding next year to deliver thousands of new affordable early learning and childcare places. It will offer funding for large scale projects to enable existing community and private services to build new capacity onto their current premises by means of physical extension. It will also allow existing community services to apply to purchase or construct new premises. I hope to announce details of the Extension Scheme in the coming weeks.