Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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1548. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she is considering an increase in the capitation grant for ECCE services given the grant has not been increased since 2018; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59330/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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ECCE is a free two-year preschool programme available to all children within the eligible age range.

ECCE is a play-based learning programme. The programme runs from September to June each year, aligned with the primary school calendar. ECCE is not mandatory, but is very successful, with an estimated 96% of children in the eligible age range attending.

To deliver the ECCE Programme, preschool providers receive a capitation of €69 per child per week. This was increased from €64.50 in September 2018.

When Core Funding services was introduced in 2022, services previously in receipt of ECCE standard capitation (of €69 per week per child) received an addition €9.75 per child per week through Core Funding – an increase of 9.5%. For the coming programme year, ECCE capitation and Core Funding combined will be €80.40.

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.

The graduate premiums provide additional funding on the basis of graduate leadership in a service. Both the Graduate Lead Educator Premium and the Graduate Manager Premium are paid out a rate of €4.44 per graduate-led hour for early learning and childcare provision.

The targeted measures consist of a flat rate top-up for sessional-only services, a minimum base rate allocation and a maximum base rate allocation. The flat rate top-up for sessional-only services is paid out at an annual rate of €5,000 per service or a weekly rate of €96.15 to services who are registered with Tusla to offer only sessional provision.

The minimum base rate allocation is currently set at €14,400. Any centre-based service whose base rate allocation (and flat rate allocation where applicable) falls below this level will see their grant automatically topped up to the minimum allocation.

The maximum base rate allocation is currently set at €450,000. No service will receive more than this amount in respect of their capacity. The Graduate Premiums and Staff Funding Additional Contribution are applied separately and can bring a services allocation above the minimum or maximum value.

This year, the Staff Funding Additional Contribution is a newly introduced element of the grant designed to distribute the ring-fenced funding for improving staff pay and conditions, contingent on the establishment of updated Employment Regulation Orders. This funding is ring-fenced for staff pay and conditions and can only be used for this purpose, and €45 million is available for this purpose.

The calculation of the Staff Funding Additional Contribution per service is linked to the staffing requirements set out by regulations and reflects that the funding that has been available for graduate-led provision for the previous three years can and should be facilitating higher rates of pay for graduates.

The release of the funding is contingent on the establishment of updated Employment Regulation Orders by the independent Joint Labour Committee.

It is important to note that although there are various elements used to derive the grants for individual services, the eligible areas of expenditure of the Core Funding grant are much broader. Services can choose how to spend their Core Funding grant in accordance with the approved areas of expenditure outlined in the Funding Agreement. The Staff Funding Additional Contribution is the only element of the grant which has a prescribed use.

The year 4 allocation reflects increases secured in Budget 2025 to facilitate 3.5% capacity growth and to ensure that providers have increased income to continue to be able to meet rising costs whilst maintaining an effective fee freeze.

Unlike other funding streams within the Department, a place does not need to be filled for a service to receive funding, but the service does need to have the necessary staffing in place to meet the regulatory adult to child ratios.

Since September 2025, services receive a minimum of €80.40 per ECCE child per week. This is before the application of graduate premiums, targeted measures, and the ring-fenced funding for improving staff pay and conditions.

Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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1549. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the breakdown of the children who do not take up the second year of free ECCE, by birth month, which could constitute approximately 17% of children who avail of the first year available; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59331/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Please see below the number the children who did not take up the second year of free ECCE by birth month.

The methodology is based on the number of children with registrations for the 2022/2023 programme year who did not have registrations in the preceding 2021/2022 programme year and who did not have registrations in the following 2023/2024 programme year.

The figures below are for children born in 2019 who were eligible for both the 2022/2023 programme year as year 1, and eligible for the 2023/2024 programme year as year 2.