Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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327. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her views on concerns around the privatization of childcare providers in Fingal (details supplied) and initiatives her Department is taking increase the amount of publicly owned childcare services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56303/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The utilisation of local authority buildings, and any criteria which may be used in the selection of tenants of those buildings, are matters for each local authority.

In respect of the early learning and childcare sector, this is an entirely privately delivered sector with three quarters of operators established on a for-profit basis and one quarter of a not-for-profit basis.

Following on from the publication of Partnership for the Public Good in 2012, the sector has seen substantially increased public funding accompanied by significantly greater levels of public management. This is enabled in particular by the introduction of the Core Funding scheme.

Core Funding is an supply-side funding scheme that allocates investment to operators in order to manage fees, enable improved terms and conditions for staff and allow for greater levels of financial transparency. Among the objectives of Core Funding is to ensure that taxpayers money is being used in a way that sustains services while not excessively increasing private profit.

The annual allocation for the scheme has risen from €269m in the first year of the scheme to €436.5m in the fifth year which begins in September 2026.

Government sees a role for both private and community in the early learning and childcare sector and accordingly it does not differentiate between for-profit and not-for-profit services in either the eligibility criteria for or the calculation and distribution of Core Funding.

This Department does however make distinctions between for-profit and not-for-profit operators in respect of investment of capital funding. The current Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme has four strands, only one of which was available to for-profit operators. Of the 50 services approved for funding, 43 are not-for-profit and, by design, have on average substantially higher value grant allocations.

The Programme for Government also 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. This work will be supported through capital investment under the revised National Development Plan.

State-led early learning and childcare builds on existing trajectory in Government policy for the sector as set out in Partnership for the Public Good in 2021, the key theme of which was the need to strengthen State involvement in the sector through greater levels of public management accompanied by increased State funding. Significant advances have been made in public management and increased public funding over the last number of years and State-led early learning and childcare is part of the next phase of developments building on this foundation.