Joanna Byrne (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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900. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of childcare places currently available in Louth. [2229/25]

Joanna Byrne (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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901. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of applications received from families in Louth for childcare places for the years 2020 to 2025 respectively. [2230/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 900 and 901 together.

Data on the number of children enrolled in ELC and SAC services is compiled each year by Pobal as part of the Early Years Sector Profile.

The most recently available capacity data for the 2022/23 programme year estimated that there were 5,278 children enrolled in Louth ELC and SAC services, 39% of services had at least one vacant place, and 58% had a waiting list.

It is important to note that waiting list data can give an indication of levels of demand for places for a given age group or service type. However, waiting list data should not be used as a measure of overall demand as not all services operate a waiting list and an individual child may be on multiple waiting lists in different services.

Applications made by parents to individual services for Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) places are managed independently at the individual service level. Data regarding these applications is therefore not available to my Department.

Further information can be found on the Early Learning and Childcare data website. The Capacity section of the website provides information on enrollments and vacancies on services that responded to the survey as well as estimated figures for the overall sector.

Joanna Byrne (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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902. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of new childcare places that have been opened in Louth for the years 2020 to 2025 respectively. [2231/25]

Joanna Byrne (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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903. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of childcare providers that have closed in Louth; and the childcare places that have been lost as a result of closures in Louth in each of the years 2020 to 2025. [2232/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 902 and 903 together.

Tusla, the independent statutory regulator for early years services, including pre-school, childminding and school age services, is responsible for maintaining the register of services under the Child Care Act 1991. Where an early years service ceases operation, the registered provider is required by law to advise Tusla of this and the service will then be removed from the public register. Tusla provides my Department with the verified figures on closures and new service openings a month in arrears. This allows time for verification. The most recent available figures are therefore up to the end of December 2024.

Data provided from Tusla on service registrations in Louth are detailed in the following table and shows the number of pre-school and school age services that opened from January 2020 to December 2024 as well as the number of services that ceased operation in Louth over the same time-period.

From January 2020 to December 2024, a total of 9 pre-school services and 67 school age services opened in Louth. This compares to 17 pre-school closures and 6 school aged closures in the same period.

In any year, it is normal for a number of services to open and close. In terms of closures, there is considerable diversity in the reasons given for closure by providers, nationally. While some services state they closed for financial reasons, many state they closed for other reasons (e.g. retirement of the owner/manager, property related, availability of staff, and reduction in child numbers). Information on reasons for closure is self-reported and is not verified by Tusla.

Data provided by Pobal uses a snapshot date of 30 November for each year.

Number of ELC and SAC places in services that have been opened and services that have closed in Louth for the years 2020 to 2024:

My Department has a range of supports in place to avert closures and to work with providers and stakeholders to avoid closures where possible. Through a case management process, City/County Childcare Committees and Pobal work together to assess and provide support to ELC and SAC services experiencing difficulties. This support focuses on operational as well as financial supports to assist services to manage their immediate difficulties and transition to a more sustainable model of delivery.

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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904. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when it is expected that there will be a funding announcement for applications under the 'Building Blocks' scheme, allowing community childcare facilities to expand their premises and enrol more children into their facilities. [2250/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme was launched on the 4th November 2024 and opened for applications last month. The closing date for applications was Thursday 30th January, following an extension to accommodate some services affected by power outages.

The scheme has four strands:

1. Extensions to existing premises for private services

2. Extensions to existing premises for community services

3. Purchase of new premises for community services

4. Construction of new premises for community services

The primary focus of the Extension Grant Scheme is to increase capacity in the 1–3-year-old, pre-ECCE, age range for full day care. Appraisal of applications for this scheme will consider the supply and demand in the area around the proposed projects and seeks to prioritise funding for areas with the biggest supply/demand mismatch.

Following the closing date of the scheme having passed, eligibility checks are now being undertaken on the applications before proceeding to full appraisal which will be partly undertaken by Pobal and partly by OPW. I expect to announce the outcome of the application process in the coming weeks.