Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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1002. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the steps that will be taken to replace a cut in service hours in a childcare facility (details supplied) particularly in a community where there is already a shortage of affordable childcare. [3338/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I understand the service in question has had initial engagement with their local CCC.

In addition to the Core Funding grant for early learning and childcare providers towards operating costs, which the service avails of, Case Management Supports are available from my Department for any service experiencing financial difficulty or has concerns about their viability.

This support can take the form of assisting services with interpreting analysis of staff ratios and cash flow, financial support for services, as well as more specialised advice and support appropriate to individual circumstances.

This service will soon meet with their local CCC and with Pobal to discuss the various supports available under Case Management.

I have also been informed that the children who attend the afternoon session in the service in question can be accommodated in this service’s sister service, which is located within 1km of the service and that other alternative arrangements also being explored.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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1003. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if she is aware of any ongoing challenges faced by early years educators and childcare providers regarding funding or operational support; and the way she plans to address these issues moving forward. [3339/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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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, increased by another 15% in year 3 (to €331 million).

This significant further investment for the third programme year allowed for increased measures including;

• The base rates for all age groups increased, with larger increases in funding for places offered to children under the age of three.
• The flat rate for services registered on the Tusla Early Years Register as sessional only, increased from €4,075 to €5,000.
• The minimum base rate allocation increased 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.
• The maximum base rate allocation decreased from €600,000 to €500,000.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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1004. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth her plans, if any, to address the shortage of childcare places in Dublin south west, which according to a recent report has the worst shortage of childcare places nationally (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3436/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department employs a range of approaches to identify and address shortages of early learning and childcare places, bearing in mind the wide range of types of early learning and childcare provision offered by services and required by families.

Last year, a Supply Management Unit within the Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare Division was established, and the Programme for Government articulates an intention that the unit be resourced and transformed into a Forward Planning and Delivery Unit to identify areas of need, forecast demand and deliver public supply within the childcare sector where required.

The development of a forward planning model is currently underway utilising the skills of statisticians on secondment from the Central Statistics Office, those experienced in the field of early learning and childcare and the expertise of a GIS mapper working with the Department. The model will seek to identify the nature 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.

It is important to note that demand for early learning and childcare beyond sessional pre-school provision is highly elastic and shaped very substantially by families' individual composition, circumstances and preferences; employment patterns and income; and the price and availability of services.

My Department collects extensive data on supply through both survey and administrative data. A range of data sources show that the level of capacity in the sector has risen substantially in recent years. 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. Published data on capacity broken down at county level is available at .

The Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme was launched on the 4th November 2024. Applications for this scheme have now closed and an appraisal process has begun.

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.

€25m will be made available this year to deliver additional capacity under the Scheme and I expect to announce the outcome of the application process in March.

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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1005. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth further to Parliamentary Question No. 1278 of 22 January 2025, in the context of the Programme for Government commitment to review and increase core funding for childcare services, whether she can detail the actions that will be taken to entice childcare providers who have exited core funding back into core funding thereby ensuring the fee cap is maintained for the benefit of all parents; if she will provide a specific dedicated forum for engagement with childcare providers who have exited core funding; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3463/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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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, has increased again by another 15% in year 3 (to €331 million).

This significant further investment for the third programme year allowed for increased measures including;

• The Base Rates for all age groups increased, with larger increases in funding increases for places offered to children under the age of three.
• The flat rate for services registered on the Tusla Early Years Register as sessional only has increased from €4,075 to €5,000.
• The minimum Base Rate allocation has increased 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.
• The maximum Base Rate allocation is decreasing from €600,000 to €500,000.

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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1006. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the total number of services that have withdrawn from core funding, by month and by county, in the past 12 months, up to and including today’s date, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3464/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Over 92% or more than 4,400, providers have signed up for Core Funding in year 3.

There are a total of 12 services whose latest application status is "withdrawn" in the previous 12 months of the scheme.

The below table shows the services who have withdrawn from Core funding in the previous 12 month by location and withdrawal month.

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 management measures. 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.

The Agreement for the provision of Core Funding in Programme year 3 (2024/2025) states that services must give 3 months’ notice of their intention to withdraw to the scheme administrator, and 3 months' written notice to parents/guardians.

As of 28 January, information received from Pobal, the scheme administrator, indicates 3 Partner Services have given notice of their intention to withdraw from the scheme to Pobal, with withdrawal dates in March this year.

In addition to these data, my officials have requested updated information on services, previously in years 1 and/or 2 of Core Funding that did not contract for the Scheme in year 3 but who continue to operate. Once this information is received, it can be shared directly with Deputy Geoghegan.