John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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1946. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the steps she is taking to alleviate the worsening childcare crisis in Kilkenny-Carlow (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45596/25]

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.

The Government is 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. Two projects in Kilkenny and two projects in Carlow have been successful. I look forward to seeing these projects progress over the coming months.

The Programme for Government also commits to providing capital investment to build or purchase state-owned 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 to influence the nature and volume of provision available and to ensure better alignment with estimated demand. Allocation of capital investment to build or purchase state-owned childcare facilities is being considered within the context of the revised National Development Plan, which provides a capital expenditure allocations for the period 2026-2030.

In relation to fee management, in August 2024, the Fee Increase Assessment process opened, whereby Core Funding Partner Services which were charging fees below the county average were eligible to apply to increase their fees.

This process was introduced to ensure that services which have fees that may not be sustainable are given the opportunity to apply for a fee increase. This process closed for applications on 29 November 2024.

Only services charging low fees (fees below the average in their county) were eligible to apply. The Fee Increase Assessment process had to balance the need of parents for stability with their early learning and childcare costs and the need for providers to operate viable businesses in order to continue providing this Public Good service for their community.

Parents/guardians and their children can only avail of the benefits and protections that Core Funding creates, such as the effective fee freeze at 2021 levels, if their service has chosen to participate in the scheme as a Partner Service.

To ensure the needs of parents/guardians and providers are balanced, the onus was on the service to demonstrate a real need for a fee increase. Permission to increase fees in this controlled and limited manner was only granted where a service had proven that such an increase was needed to be able to continue to offer these services in your area.

In programme year 2025/2026, the Department intends to recommence a process whereby services meeting designated criteria may apply to the Department to increase their fees up to an approved level. This is specified in the Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement and Rules Document for programme year 2025/2026.

In the interest of clarity, transparency and consistent reporting, I have defined a service that left Core Funding as any service that had a gap between contracts for Core Funding of 4 or more weeks. There are a number of reasons that a service might fall into this definition, for example a service could have withdrawn from the scheme, been removed from the scheme for breach or rules, or experienced a delay in re-contracting following a change of circumstance application or between programme years. Many services have left and later re-joined the scheme. There may be a small number of services who left the scheme and subsequently closed at a later date and are not captured in the figures below.

As of 5 August 2025, there were 4,807 services listed as being open on the Early Years Platform, of which 141 (3%) had left Core Funding at one point over the past 3 years and continue to operate outside of this scheme. A further 336 services (7%) had left Core Funding at one point over the past 3 years but later re-joined and are currently signed up to the third year of the scheme. The overwhelming majority of services, 4,056 or 84%, have continued to participate in Core Funding from the date on which they first signed up for the scheme.

The Department notes that similar claims regarding Core Funding participation have been circulated in the summer months for the past three years, however the number of services participating in the scheme has grown each year with record numbers of services currently engaging in the scheme (over 4,400 providers).

The fourth year of Core Funding began on 1 September 2025 and uptake continues to remain on par with the same point in previous years. Every year there are a number of services who sign up to Core Funding in the weeks following the commencement of the programme year. For this reason, it is not yet possible to make an accurate assessment regarding whether further services have made the decision to no longer participate in Core Funding.

While my Department cannot mandate providers to participate in schemes, every effort has been made to carefully design Core Funding to meet the policy objectives including to achieve high levels of participation by providers.

It is a matter for providers to decide whether they wish to withdraw from the Core Funding scheme, the significant financial supports it provides to providers and the certainty it provides to parents through the associated fee freeze. However, I am confident that given the level of investment and associated supports, services should not need to take this step.

My Department 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 Kilkenny and Carlow Childcare Committees may be found at www.kkccc.ie/ and www.carlowccc.ie/

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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1947. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if a childcare place for a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny will be provided; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45630/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Thank you for your representation regarding availability of early learning and childcare on behalf of your constituent.

Improving access to quality and affordable Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare is a key priority of Government.

In addition to the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme that is referenced in the correspondence which provides 15 hours of fully subsidised early learning and childcare for children in the two years before they start school, the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) also provides financial support to help parents to meet the cost of early learning and childcare outside of these 15 hours for children of ECCE age.

NCS subsidies are available for children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years of age. A minimum rate of €2.14 per hour is available for a maximum of 45 hours per week with a Universal award. Higher rates may be available through the Income-Assessed subsidy depending on a family’s individual circumstances.

My Department has progressed several actions since September 2024 that mean childminders can now register with Tusla and access the National Childcare Scheme, helping parents using their service to meet their childcare costs.

The Childcare Support Act 2018, which provides a statutory basis for the National Childcare Scheme, specifies that only Tusla-registered childminders are eligible to participate in the Scheme. The limitation of public funding schemes to Tusla-registered childcare providers helps to ensure that public funding is provided where there is assurance of the quality of provision.

The National Action Plan for Childminding 2021-2028, launched in April 2021, set out a pathway for the extension of registration to childminders. A key objective of the National Action Plan for Childminding is to enable parents who use childminders to benefit from State subsidies through the National Childcare Scheme. As a result of the commencement of the relevant parts of the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2024 and the Childminding Services Regulations, which came into effect on 30 September 2024, all childminders are now able to apply to register with Tusla and can therefore also take part in the National Childcare Scheme.

The 2024 Act provides for a transition period of three years before registration becomes mandatory. This phased approach aims to facilitate the largest possible number of childminders to enter the regulated sector, the sphere of quality assurance, and access to Government subsidies, while recognising the time and supports required for childminders to learn about and prepare for registration.

During the transition period, supports are available for childminders at local level through the City and County Childcare Committees. Each City and County Childcare Committee employs a Childminding Development Officer (CMDO), who provides a range of supports to local childminders, including a short pre-registration training course.

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.

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 fourth 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. Additional funding was secured in Budget 2025 to facilitate a 3.5% increase in capacity from September 2025.

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. Two services in Kilkenny have been allocated funding to increase capacity. I look forward to seeing how these projects progress over the coming months.

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 preparing for the delivery of public supply within the early learning and childcare sector where required, as committed to in the Programme for Government.

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 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. The National Development Plan sets out the capital allocation to underpin this work in the coming years.

My Department 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.

For further information and support I encourage the individual, their childminder, and all other childminders in Kilkenny to contact Kilkenny County Childcare Committee by phoning 056-7752865, or emailing mail@kkccc.ie.

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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1948. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality in view of the gradual reduction of childcare costs as committed to in the Programme for Government, the steps she has taken to progress this policy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45639/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Investment in early learning and childcare is now at unprecedented levels with public funding exceeding €1.37 billion in 2025, clearly demonstrating the Government’s commitment to this area.

The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme, which provides two years of pre-school without charge, enjoys participation rates of 96%. Over 70% of families on low income report that they would not be able to send their child to pre-school without this Programme.

The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) complements the ECCE Programme, providing subsidies – both universal and targeted - to reduce the costs to parents for children to participate in early learning and childcare. The Scheme is progressive in nature ensuring the highest levels of subsidies go to families that need them most.

The NCS has undergone a number of enhancements in recent years to further improve affordability for parents. These include the extension of the universal subsidy to all children under 15 and two increases to the minimum hourly subsidy, which is now worth €2.14 hourly for up to 45 hours, or a maximum of €96.30 per week.

Record numbers of children and their families are now benefiting from the NCS. Almost 220,000 unique children benefited from an NCS subsidy in 2024.

Children in childminding settings that have come forward for registration, following changes to the childminder Tusla registration requirements last September, can also benefit from NCS subsidies.

An evaluation of the NCS is due to start towards the end of this year. This evaluation will review how the Scheme has performed to date and identify potential enhancements that could be made to further improve affordability for families.

Core Funding has seen consistent increased State investment to the sector year on year, and is set in year 4 to be worth over €390 million contingent on the establishment of new minimum rates of pay in the sector through updated Employment Regulation Orders. This is an increase of over 50% since the scheme began in September 2022 with an allocation of €259 million.

In June, I announced the introduction of maximum fee caps for all Partner Services in Core Funding from September 2025. The fee freeze will remain in place for all Partner Services with fees below these caps. This is an important step towards the reduction of childcare fees to €200 per month over the lifetime of this Government.

Maximum fee caps were introduced for new services last year, and this month, September, they are extending to existing services also. Under these new fee caps, the fee for a full day place – of between 40-50 hours per week, the most common full day care operating hours – will be no more than €295 per week (before State subsidies under the National Childcare Scheme and the ECCE programme are deducted), the fee cap for 50+ hours of care is €354. All of the fee caps will reduce the highest fees at each fee band in the country. The majority of services are already charging far less than the new maximum fees. This is an important step towards the reduction of childcare fees to €200 per month over the lifetime of this Government.

This latest measure builds on a range of supports already in place.

Work is also under way to develop an Action Plan to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early learning and childcare system, informed by stakeholder consultation. This will set out future steps to reduce the cost of early learning and childcare further to €200 per month over the lifetime of the Government.