Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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1845. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth further to Parliamentary Question No. 265 of 2 April 2025, to provide specific clarification as to the reason capital equipment is included on financial reporting for years one and two but is excluded in the process of calculating the unit cost per child in the context of fee increase calculation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19433/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Capital equipment costs are required in relation to financial reporting as the purpose of financial reporting is to collect data that provides an accurate picture of the costs relating to delivering Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare across the different operating models in the sector to inform future policy while also satisfying the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform requirements on grant reporting. Therefore, the scope of financial reporting requirements is broad.

Capital Equipment is excluded from the Fee Increase Assessment calculation as capital costs are considered irregular once-off expenses and were therefore not included in the Fee Increase Assessment which was concerned with regular operational costs of delivery in a service whereas capital equipment costs are more usually balance sheet items which have accountancy adjustments applied overtime such as depreciation.

For additional clarification, a service’s Core Funding grant is subtracted from their Adjusted Expenditure as part of the Fee Increase Assessment calculation because Core Funding is an operational grant designed to support the cost of delivery. This is in line with the Partner Service Funding Agreement (7.6.) which specifies that Partner Services cannot put funding received under the scheme toward capital costs.