Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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2297. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her attention has been drawn to cases whereby childcare centres that have no refund policies regarding deposits and upfront fees, regardless of the level of notice provided, when the child will not be taking up a place in their location; if this is permitted under their core funding contract; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41207/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Improving access to quality and affordable early learning and childcare is a key priority of Government. This includes reviewing deposit rules across each early learning and childcare scheme.

Under Core Funding, in which over 92% of the sector participate, providers agree that all deposits relating to the 2024/2025 Programme Year must be returned to the parent/ guardian once the child’s registration is approved on the Hive or within four weeks of the child taking up the place, whichever is sooner. Additionally they must agree that they will not charge any non-refundable deposits (including administration/registration fees/waiting list fees, etc.) to parents/guardians in respect of their early learning and childcare service for which the deposit was paid.

In instances where a child does not take up a place for which a deposit was paid, there is no onus on a provider, under Early Childhood Care and Education Programme (ECCE) and Core Funding rules, to return the deposit to the parent/guardian.

The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) does not stipulate any rules regarding deposits except in relation to sponsored children, where it is not permitted to charge deposits.

Deposits in these instances are subject to a local agreement between the provider and the parent/guardian.

My Department is committed to ongoing engagement on this matter and will consider wider changes to Core Funding deposit rules for the 2026/2027 programme year. These considerations will include a review of the restrictions around deposits.

An evaluation of the first year of Core Funding and the development of an evaluation framework for Core Funding is currently underway. This project will examine the early implementation of Core Funding and make recommendations for future evaluations of the grant. Findings from the project are expected in Quarter 4 2025.

Parents experiencing difficulty in relation to their early learning and childcare needs should contact their local CCC for assistance.

I would like to note that under the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme, which is administered by Pobal on the Department’s behalf, has comprehensive rules relating to deposits. For example,

• Services may not, under any circumstances, extract ECCE fees from parents/guardians including non-refundable and optional extra deposits.
• ECCE approved providers must give an accurate description and the total cost of a deposit requested on its Fee Table.
• The maximum deposit a provider may charge is equivalent to 4 weeks ECCE payment. This must appear on the Fee Table.
• The full ECCE deposit must be returned to the Parent/Guardian once the child’s registration has been approved on the EY HIVE.
• If a service is holding a legacy deposit from when the child first started attending the service that exceeds 4 times the weekly capitation amount for a child, €276 of that deposit must be returned to the Parent/Guardian once the child’s ECCE registration has been approved on the EY HIVE.
• An ECCE Approved Provider must retain all financial records relating to deposits from parents/guardians and evidence of return.