Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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1835. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the amount funding has been allocated for administration under core funding; the supports available to childcare providers to help with compliance with the financial reporting requirement; and the case management support that is available to providers in difficulty. [19288/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Core Funding is a grant to providers designed to support quality, sustainability, and enhanced public management, with associated conditions in relation to fee control and cost transparency, incorporating funding for administration and to support the employment of graduate staff.

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 increased by 11% in year 2 (to €287 million). The scheme increased by a further 15% in year 3 (to €331 million).

The scheme is designed to meet the combined objectives of:

• Improved affordability for parents through the introduction of fee management and contractual requirements on providers to offer the National Childcare Scheme and/or the ECCE programme
• Improved quality through better pay and conditions for the workforce by supporting agreement on Employment Regulation Orders through the Joint Labour Committee and supporting the employment of graduate staff; and
• Improved sustainability and stability for services.

A number of targeted supports for small and sessional services in year 2 of Core Funding were introduced in order to improve sustainability of small-medium services, and these supports were enhanced in September 2024 for year 3. These measures currently include a flat rate top up of €5,000 (increased from €4,075 in year 2) for sessional-only services, and a minimum base rate allocation of €14,000 (increased from €8,150 in year 2). There is also a maximum base rate allocation of €500,000 in place for the current programme year.

Financial reporting for programme year 1 and year 2 of Core Funding requires the submission of an Income and Expenditure Report. The requirements for year 2, which services are currently required to submit, have not changed from the requirements of year 1.

The Financial Reporting Support Payment (FRSP) is available to Partner Services who meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Services whose Year 3 Core Funding profile shows less than €10,000 in ‘new funding’ i.e. the difference between Higher Capitation and PSP (Programme Support Payment) and Year 3 of Core Funding, and less than €70,000 in Core Funding in total, as of 7th March 2025.

There are also wider financial supports available from my Department where a service is experiencing financial difficulty or has concerns about their viability, which can be accessed while remaining within Core Funding.

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.

These supports can be accessed by any Core Funding Partner Service by contacting their local County/City Childcare Committee.

For further information regarding Financial Reporting requirements you can visit Core Funding Financial Reporting Requirements Frequently Asked Questions 2023/24 Programme Year at: