Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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165. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the level of grant aid that will be available in 2025 for the upgrading or provision of new childcare accommodation, both for community providers and private providers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7774/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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In 2025, €25m is being made available to deliver additional capacity under the Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme. There are four strands under the scheme: Private - Extension, Community - Extension, Community - Purchase and Community - Construction. This grant is designed to support the creation of additional full day care places for children aged 1-3.

The scheme was launched on 4 November 2024 and closed for applications on Thursday 30 January, following an extension to accommodate some services affected by power outages following Storm Eowyn.

All eligible applications are currently being appraised and I hope to announce the successful applications in the next month.

The Building Blocks Extension Grant scheme follows on from the Building Blocks Expansion Grant scheme which ran in 2024 and the Building Blocks Improvement Grant Scheme which operated in 2023.