Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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505. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will publish detailed, disaggregated data showing the number of childcare providers entering and leaving the sector nationally and by county each year since 2015, including whether those providers were part of the core funding scheme. [52981/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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In line with the requirements of the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations, 2016, the Child Care Act, 1991 (Early Year Services) (Registration of School Age Services) Regulations, 2018 and the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) (Childminding Services) Regulations 2024, those wishing to operate an early years services (whether a preschool, school age or childminding service) are required to register with Tusla. Each year a number of early years services decide to close of their own volition. Where these services close, they are also required, in line with these statutory provisions, to notify Tusla of their planned closure.

Data collected by Tusla, including information relating to new registrations and reported cessations, is collated and verified on county-by-county basis.

On this basis, the requested data, which encompasses new registrations and reported cessations of early years services per county for the period December 2016-December 2024, with the annualised net change in the number of registered services, have been set out at the link below. As the pre-school register was only established in 2016, is it not possible to provide data on 2015. Data on school-age services likewise is included since 2019. For childminding, while some childminders were registered prior to 2024, Childminding-specific Regulations have only been in place since September 2024.

Registration data for 2019 did not disaggregate standalone school age services from pre-school services that also operated a school-age service. The data for 2019 is therefore not directly comparable with the later years as the data since 2020 allows disaggregation to avoid double counting of services that provide both pre-school and school-age childcare.

It was not feasible, in the time allotted for responding to the Deputy’s question, for officials to disaggregate services that left Core Funding, from providers who left the childcare sector.

However, the Department did undertake an exercise (on 5 August 2025) assessing the levels of withdrawals from Core Funding – since its inception in September 2022.

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 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.

• 183 services had left the 2022/2023 programme year of Core Funding (Year 1), of which 159 have since rejoined the scheme and were participating in Core Funding on 5 August 2025. The other 24 open services who left in the first year of the scheme were not participating on 5 August 2025.
• 303 services had left the 2023/2024 programme year of Core Funding (Year 2), of which 187 have since rejoined the scheme and were participating in Core Funding on 5 August 2025. The other 116 open services who left in the second year of the scheme were not participating on 5 August 2025.
• 19 services had left the 2024/2025 programme year of Core Funding (Year 3), of which 10 had rejoined the scheme and were participating in Core Funding on 5 August 2025. The other 9 open services who left in the third year of the scheme were not participating on 5 August 2025.
• I am aware that between 5 and 31 August 2025, two additional services reached the end of their notice period and withdrew from Core Funding – one in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown and one in Kildare.

• 3,964 services that were operating on 5 August 2025 (82%) had joined Core Funding in the first year of the scheme (2022/2023).
• 261 services that were operating on 5 August 2025 (5%) had first joined Core Funding in the second year of the scheme (2023/2024).
• 310 services that were operating on 5 August 2025 (6%) had first joined Core Funding in the third year of the scheme (2024/2025).
• 272 services that were operating on 5 August 2025 (6%) had not joined Core Funding in any of the first three years of the scheme.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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506. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the steps her Department is taking to prevent excessive childcare fee increases, including whether consideration has been given to introducing statutory fee caps or a link between the core funding scheme and maximum allowable fee levels. [52982/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Promoting affordability in early learning and care and school-age childcare is a key priority of the Department. In January, the Programme for Government committed to reducing the cost of childcare to €200 per month within the lifetime of the Government. A number of existing Schemes will play a role in realising this goal, including Core Funding.

Core Funding, which is now in its fourth year, was introduced in September 2022, and is designed to improve the affordability, quality and sustainability of childcare in Ireland.

The Core Funding fee management system was introduced with the launch of the scheme, on foot of the recommendations of the Expert Group’s Partnership for the Public Good report, which was accepted by all of Government in December 2021.

The first step of this process was to limit increases in fee rates, with all services contracting to the Scheme required to freeze their fees at September 2021 levels. As part of the progressive development of the Core Funding fee management system, the Department introduced new fee management measures in year 3, including a cap on the highest fees for services joining the Scheme for the first time.

With these changes in year 3, it was also made clear in public communications and the Core Funding contract that maximum fee caps would apply to all Partner Services from the beginning of year 4 in September 2025.

In June, I published the details of these maximum fee caps for year 4. These new maximum fee caps will apply to all Partner Services and place a limit on the fees that can be charged across all types of provision. This will reduce costs for families who are facing the highest fees across the country. The fee freeze will remain in place for the majority of Partner Services with fees that fall below these caps.

Under these new fee caps, the maximum fee for a full day place – of between 40-50 hours per week, the most common full day care operating hours – can be no more than €295 per week (before State subsidies under the National Childcare Scheme and the ECCE programme are deducted), and the maximum fee for 50+ hours of care can be no more than €354.

The introduction of Core Funding in 2022 brought a significant increase in investment for the sector, with €259 million of funding paid directly to services in year 1 of the scheme, of which €210.8 million was entirely new funding. This allocation has since risen to over €390 million in year 4, which is inclusive of €45 million in State funding to support services to meet costs of increased minimum rates of pay in the sector. The allocation of this funding to the sector is conditional on new Employment Regulation Orders being in place.

Minister of State for Employment, Small Business and Retail Alan Dillon has confirmed he intends to sign a new Employment Order for Early Years Educators and School-Age Practitioners. The Order will revoke the 2024 Order currently in operation for the sector and will commence on 13th October 2025.

Adherence to the Core Funding fee management system is a primary condition of receiving the significant State funding that is available through the scheme. The fee management system requires compliance with a fee freeze and the maximum fee caps.

Core Funding has enjoyed high engagement from the sector to date, with 91.1% of eligible services having signed up to programme year 2025/2026 as of 6th October. The progressive development of the Core Funding fee management system will continue in future programme years as the Department works toward meeting the Government’s goal of reducing childcare costs down to €200 per month.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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507. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the locations where State-led childcare facilities are currently being planned or developed, including projected capacity, opening dates, costs, and the criteria used for site selection. [52983/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government commits for the first time to 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 State-led 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.

The development of State-led early learning and childcare services will be enabled by capital allocation provided in the revised National Development Plan 2026-2030.

This work is being led by a new Forward Planning and Delivery Unit which 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.

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 an affordable, high-quality, accessible early childhood education and care system that the Government is committed to publishing.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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508. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the specific supports (financial, operational, training, or business supports) which are being made available to smaller and rural childcare providers to maintain their viability within the core funding scheme. [52984/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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When first introduced in 2022, Core Funding had an annual allocation of €259 million. That annual allocation has increased each year since and will exceed €390 million for year 4 of the Scheme, starting in September. This represents an increase of over 50% in Core Funding in three years.

The Department has also made changes to improve the sustainability of providers through, for example, targeted measures for small and sessional services, a fee increase assessment and approval process for services with fees frozen at unsustainably low rates.

I understand services in isolated rural areas may face revenue challenges due to the natural fluctuations in a small local population. As a part of the Case Management process, financial assistance under sustainability funding may be granted in respect of the ongoing operational expenditure and liabilities of a service facing and unable to deal with these challenges. This funding is designed to support the continued provision of ELC/SAC Services Providers in rural communities and encourage efficiency by providing governance and business model supports to support the long-term sustainability and safeguard invest

As part of the Case Management process, City /County Childcare Committees assist services with issues and difficulties that arise. The CCC may refer Core Funding-partner services facing difficulties to Pobal and the Department to be considered for Sustainability Funding. Sustainability Funding is intended to prevent significant issues that threaten the viability of a service. Any service seeking these supports should contact their City/County Childcare Committee.

If a service is experiencing financial difficulty or concerns about their viability, they can avail of special supports available from the Department. These supports are open to all Core Funding Partner Services, both community and private, who are experiencing financial difficulty, following a financial assessment by Pobal. These supports can be accessed through local City/County Childcare Committees (CCC).

The supports provided by local CCCs include, assisting services with interpreting analysis of staff ratios and cash flow, as well as more specialised advice and support including financial supports as appropriate to the individual circumstances of Partner Services.

Although the Government is the primary funder of the sector, it is not the employer and cannot directly set wages or conditions. Instead, wage rates are negotiated through the Joint Labour Committee (JLC) process, with outcomes formalised via Employment Regulation Orders.

Thanks to the JLC process, and the State funding provided through Core Funding, minimum pay rates have increased twice in 2 years seeing, on average an increase of 13% in rates.

This Government remains committed to ‘continue to implement Employment Regulation Orders to attract and retain early years educators.’

Outcomes from the JLC process are supported by the Government through the Core Funding scheme, which has an allocation for this programme year (2025/2026) of €350 million.

For the 2025/26 programme year, €45 million has been specifically ringfenced to support employers with additional costs. The allocation of this funding to the sector is conditional on new Employment Regulation Orders being in place.

I have been informed that the JLC has, after public consultation, unanimously agreed on proposed new minimum rates of pay for the sector and has submitted these proposals to the Labour Court. If adopted by the Labour Court, these proposals will be laid before the Minister of State for the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment for consideration, as provided for under the Industrial Relations Act 1946.

I am hopeful that these proposals will soon come into effect, marking a positive change for our dedicated and skilled educators in the early learning and childcare sector and the services that employ them.

The Department continues to roll out ‘Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare, 2022-2028’ was launched in December 2021. It aims to strengthen the ongoing process of professionalisation for those working in the sector. It contains a range of commitments to raise the profile of careers in the sector and to support recruitment, retention and diversity in the workforce.

Department officials also discuss issues of recruitment and retention with stakeholders through a Sub-Group of the Early Learning and Childcare Stakeholder Forum. The general consensus of the Group is that pay is the single biggest issue but the Group has identified other actions, which the Department is now following through on, including:

• a Student Fast-track Process for recognition of studies to work in service out-of-term,
• the assessment of unfinished qualifications, where people who may have started a relevant qualification but did not get to finish it, can have what they completed assessed for meeting qualification requirements,
• an agreement to promote careers in the sector.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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509. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the way in which her Department verifies claims of a national net increase in services when some regions, such as Cork, have reported sustained decreases; and if she will provide a breakdown reconciliating national and regional figures. [52985/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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As this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.