Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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211. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her views on her Department’s work to progress the public provision of childcare. [36386/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government commits for the first time to public provision of early learning and childcare through State-led facilities adding capacity in areas where unmet need exists.

State ownership of facilities is a very substantial and significant development and offers the potential to influence the nature and volume of provision available and to ensure better alignment with estimated demand.

Early scoping work has been carried out to explore options to introduce a segment of public provision. More detailed and extensive policy development and design is ongoing in order to progress to implementation stage, having regard to the wider emerging policy context as set out in the Programme for Government.

This work is being led by a new Forward Planning and Delivery Unit which has received additional resources. The unit is focused on identifying areas of need, forecasting demand, and planning for the delivery of public supply within the early learning and childcare sector where required.

A key aspect of the preparatory work being undertaken by the unit is the development of a forward planning model. The forward planning model draws on administrative data to map the child population and location of funded services, and GIS mapping tools to model the link between children and available services. This will enable the identification and comparison of areas of need with a consistent methodology.

Allocation of capital investment to build or purchase state-owned early learning and childcare facilities is being considered within the context of the revision to the National Development Plan which is ongoing.

These new initiatives build on the framework for reform of the sector which was set out in Partnership for the Public Good, the 2021 report of an Expert Group which was established to develop a new funding model for the sector. The key theme of the recommendations in the report was to strengthen State involvement and enhanced public management in the sector, in conjunction with increased State funding.

The introduction of the Core Funding scheme and its associated conditionality including in relation to staff pay and fee management; developments to the National Childcare Scheme and the Access and Inclusion Model; and the establishment of Equal Start represent the implementation of several of the specific recommendations in the report and serve as an strong foundation for further work now to deliver State-led early learning and childcare.

The approach to ensuring appropriate levels of early learning and childcare supply, including through State-led facilities, will be further articulated in the context of the Action Plan to build and affordable, high-quality, accessible early childhood education and care system that the Government is committed to publishing.

Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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212. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to report on her Department’s estimates for the supply and demand of ELC/SAC over the next five years. [36387/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Improving access to quality and affordable Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare is a key priority of Government.

Early learning and childcare capacity is increasing. Data from the Annual Early Years Sector Profile 2023/24 shows that the estimated number of enrolments increased by approximately 19% from the 2021/22 programme year. Core Funding application data shows that between Year 1 and Year 3 of the scheme, annual place hours increased by over 15%. The Tusla register of services demonstrates a net increase in the numbers of registered early learning and childcare services in 2024. However, it appears that demand for early learning and childcare remains higher than available supply in certain parts of the country, particularly for younger children.

Whereas there is a clear aspiration to ensure access to sessional preschool through the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme for all children for the two years prior to the start of primary school, the level of full time provision for children under 3 determined to be required by the Barcelona targets is 35% of the population.

Government has committed, through the First 5 target, to delivering 60,000 State-funded places for children under 3. By extension, there will be a need for at least the same number of full-day places for ECCE-age children.

In relation to school-age childcare, the supply of places has grown substantially in recent years. Estimated enrolments in school-age childcare, based on Sector Profile data, have grown by 56% over the last two years.

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. Survey data undertaken on behalf of my Department indicates that centre-based early learning and childcare is the preferred option for 44% of parents of preschool age children as their primary arrangement for care of their children. Demand is also be affected by the size of the child population. The CSO forecasts a continued declining birth rate over the next five years.

A Forward Planning and Delivery Unit in my Department has been allocated additional resources and is focused on identifying areas of need, forecasting demand, and planning for the delivery of public supply within the early learning and childcare sector where required.

A forward planning model is in development which will be central to my Department's plans to achieve the policy goals set out in the Programme for Government to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early childhood education and care system, with State-led facilities adding capacity.

The Programme for Government is clear that we will continue to grow State involvement and investment in the sector, while working in partnership with private providers, to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early childhood education and care system with State-led facilities adding capacity.