Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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337. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the steps being taken by her Department to increase capacity for childcare services in north Kildare; the number of families currently on a waiting list for childcare services in north Kildare; the average waiting times on those lists; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36809/25]

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.

Each year, Pobal compiles data from Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) providers as part of the Early Years Sector Profile. The most recent published capacity data for the 2023/24 programme year provides estimated data for enrolments by county boundaries.

Data from 2023/24 estimated that there were 11,634 children enrolled in ELC and SAC services in County Kildare. This data also indicated that 42% of services had at least one vacant place and an estimated 48% had a waiting list.

It is important to note that waiting list data should not be used as a measure of overall demand for ELC and SAC places. While waiting list data can be used to give an indication of demand for places for a given age group or service type not all services operate a waiting list. In addition, an individual child may be on multiple waiting lists in different services.

Because services operate their own waiting lists, my Department does not have data on the average time on waiting lists.

A new Forward Planning and Delivery Unit within my Department has been allocated additional resources and is pursuing an ambitious programme of work. 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.

My Department continues to support the ongoing development and resourcing of Core Funding which has given rise to a significant expansion of places since the scheme was first introduced. Core Funding, which is in its third programme year, funds services based on the number of places available.

This provides stability to services, and reduces the risk associated with opening a new service or expanding an already existing service. For the current programme year, the allocation for Core Funding would be able to capture almost a 6% increase in capacity. Additional funding was secured in Budget 2025 to facilitate a further 3.5% increase from September 2025, in the fourth programme year.

The Government is also supporting the expansion of capacity through capital funding. The Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme is designed to increase capacity in the 1–3-year-old, pre–Early Childhood Care and Education, age range for full day care. Core Funding Partner services could apply for capital funding to physically extend their premises or to construct or purchase new premises.

50 applications will be progressing to the next stage of the Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme. These 50 applications come from a mix of Community Extension (24), Private Extension (7), Community Purchasing (4) and Community Construction (15) projects, which, when completed, will deliver 1,500 additional full time childcare places for 1-3 year olds. Three service in Kildare were approved for funding under the scheme. I look forward to seeing how these projects progress over the coming months.

The Programme for Government commits for the first time to provide capital investment to build or purchase state-owned early learning and childcare facilities, to create additional capacity in areas where unmet need exists. State ownership of facilities is a very substantial and significant development and offers the potential for much greater scope to influence the nature and volume of provision available and to ensure better alignment with estimated demand.

Some 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 progress to implementation stage, having regard to the wider emerging policy context as set out in the Programme for Government.

This work has informed my Department’s contribution to the review of the National Development Plan which will set out the capital allocation to underpin this work in the coming years. There has been a range of engagements at official and political level to inform the updated National Development Plan between my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. My officials and I are continuing to engage with colleagues across Government on the review.

My Department also funds 30 City/County Childcare Committees, which provide support and assist families and early learning and childcare providers. The network of 30 City/County Childcare Committees across the country can assist in identifying vacant places in services for children and families who need them and engage proactively with services to explore possibilities for expansion among services, particularly where there is unmet need.

Parents experiencing difficulty in relation to their early learning and childcare needs should contact their local City/County Childcare Committee for assistance. Contact details for the Kildare County Childcare Committee may be found at www.kccc.ie.