Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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868. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if the Building Blocks Programme is on track to deliver the 1,500 new childcare places as announced in 2025; the reasons for any delays in delivery; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61500/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme was launched on 4th November 2024. The closing date for applications was 30th January 2025 and a total of 78 applications were received from across the country. 50 of these applicants were approved to progress to the next stage of the process involving the finalisation of legal formalities associated with the scheme. Some services have completed the grant agreement and other documentation and others are working through that process.

By its nature, the legal aspect of the scheme, which includes securing the Minister's interest in the grant-aided properties through a charge, involves a degree complexity and rigour. Some applicants are well prepared for this stage and others have more issues to resolve before the contracting can complete.

The projects will begin to be completed over the course of 2026 with the places becoming available following the Tusla registration process which will determine the maximum number of places that a service can offer.

In planning ahead for the capital programme to be funded through the revised National Development plan 2026-30, the experience of various aspects of the Building Blocks scheme have been incorporated, including feedback received from services and County Childcare Committees, and will inform the design of any potential future scheme.

As part of the recent NDP review, the allocation for this Department has increased to €795 million over the next five years. This increased funding will be used in part to provide additional early learning and childcare places through future capital programmes, including operating a further scheme similar to Building Blocks to support the expansion of provision by existing operators, as well as implementing the Department's commitment to capital investment in State-owned facilities.

The Department are currently examining options for future Building Blocks schemes and I expect to announce details in early 2026.

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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869. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will consider introducing a streamlined capital delivery mechanism for high-need areas, particularly where community providers face high barriers to entering or continuing in a geographical area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61501/25]

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

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.

The 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.

The total allocation for Core Funding in 2026/2027 programme year will increase to €436.54 million.

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. This work will be supported through capital investment under the revised National Development Plan.

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.

As part of the National Development Plan review the allocation for this Department has increased to €795 million over the next five years. This increased funding will be used in part to provide additional early learning and childcare places through future capital programmes, which will primarily focus on implementing the commitment to capital investment in State-owned early learning and childcare facilities. Making available a further round of funding to existing services to extend their services to expand their current provision will also be enabled by the NDP allocation.

As announced in the context of Budget 2026, €36 million will be available in 2026 for early learning and childcare capital programmes. This will include acquisitions of new buildings through the State-led early learning and childcare programme, investment in expansion of existing early learning and childcare operators through the Building Blocks scheme and a number of quality initiatives including supports to childminders.

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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870. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality for updated benchmarking data on the average childcare costs, by county; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61502/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Each year Pobal compiles data from Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) providers as part of the Early Years Sector Profile.

Early Learning and Care

The most recently published fee data for the 2023/24 programme year indicates that the national average (median) weekly fee per child before subsidies was €190.00 for full day early learning and care.

The fee data shows that there is a large degree of county-level variation in fees charged by services. Historically, fees have been higher in urban areas and along the East coast. The highest fees for full day provision in 2023/24 were charged by services in Dublin – Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, where the average full-time fees were reported at €258.57. The lowest full day fees (€150.00) were in Leitrim.

Table 1. Service reported average* fees by county for early learning and care

Compared to data from the 2022/23 sector profile, the national average fees for all three early learning and care categories remained unchanged. Full-day care remained at €190.00, part-time care remained at €110.00 and sessional care remained unchanged at €75.00.

School Age Childcare

The most recently published fee data for the 2023/24 programme year indicates that the average (median) weekly fee per child before subsidies was €165.00 for out of term school age childcare. The highest fees for out of term school age childcare was charged by services in Dublin – Dún-Laoghaire-Rathdown and in Dublin – Fingal, both at €200.00. The lowest out of term fees were in Leitrim at €132.50.

Table 2. Service reported average* fees by county for school age care

Compared to data from the 2022/23 sector profile, the national average fees for both school age care categories remained unchanged. The out of term weekly fee remained unchanged at €165.00 and the hourly rate at €5.00.

Data from the 2024/245 AEYSP is currently being cleaned and prepared for publication and the results will be published on the Early Learning and Childcare data website in due course. The Fees section of the website provides information on early learning and care fees, school-age childcare fees, and fee trends.

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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871. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department has assessed the economic impact of childcare constraints on workforce participation, particularly among women; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61503/25]

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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872. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department has assessed the economic impact of childcare constraints on workforce participation, particularly among women; if her Department has examined the broader implications of these constraints for the Irish economy; if any analysis has been undertaken to estimate the potential positive economic impact of increased female workforce participation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61504/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 871 and 872 together.

There is a large and well-established body of international evidence that demonstrates the economic benefits of high-quality, affordable and accessible early learning and childcare (ELC). These include improved outcomes for children across a range of domains including health, education and socio-emotional, particularly for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. It is also associated with broader societal impacts, by supporting economic activity including greater workforce participation, particularly among women.

To summarise the available evidence, the Department’s Research and Evaluation Unit produced a paper in 2022. The paper, “The Economic Rationale for Government Investment in ELC: a High-Level Overview”, considers key economic reasons for Government investment in early learning and childcare in Ireland. The paper references analyses on female workforce participation, as well as child development outcomes during adolescence and adulthood and wider economic and societal impacts including employment, social infrastructure and multiplier effects. In relation to workforce participation, the paper noted that access to affordable ELC is associated with higher levels of labour market activity among women. The paper also highlighted that ELC in itself provides important employment opportunities, with Central Statistics Office (CSO) data from 2020 indicating that centre-based ELC accounted for 1.35% of total national employment in the third quarter of 2020.

In addition to this, the Department part funds the Economic and Social Research Institute’s (ESRI) research and development on the updated Simulating Welfare, Income Tax Childcare and Health Policies (SWITCH) model. SWITCH is a tax-benefit microsimulation model based on data from the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) which is carried out by the CSO. SWITCH is an effective tool for analysing policy changes across multiple criteria, including overall fiscal cost, as well as distributional impact on disposable incomes at a household level.

Through the SWITCH research programme, the ESRI has produced several publications examining economic impacts across a range of outcomes. This research highlights that the NCS overall is a progressive measure that improves the affordability of ELC in Ireland. Several policy papers from this programme of work show that the NCS subsidy improves incentives to take up paid work. In particular, a 2023 paper by Doorley and colleagues found that the introduction of the NCS subsidies in 2019, with a universal subsidy of €0.50 per hour, was estimated to increase mothers’ labour market participation by 0.5 percentage points. Further, this paper estimated that increases in the subsidy introduced in 2023, increasing the universal subsidy to €1.40 per hour, increases mothers’ labour market participation by a further 1 percentage points.

Furthermore, each year since 2020 the Department has commissioned a poll of parents to capture their preferences and experiences using ELC. In 2025, more than 700 parents were polled by IPSOS B&A on behalf of the Department. The vast majority, over 90%, of parents reported that they were satisfied with their main form of ELC. The poll also asked parents to report on impacts they experienced arising from difficulties in arranging ELC. The most common impact reported by parents/guardians was a restriction in the hours they could work or study (65%).

The Government recognises that ELC is a key support to enable parents to participate in the labour market, education and their community.

Currently, the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme, which provides two years of preschool without charge, enjoys participation rates of 96%. While the primary objective of the ECCE Programme is to allow children to avail of quality early learning and care (ELC), it has greatly increased the accessibility of ELC with over 70% of families on low-income reporting that they would not be able to send their child to preschool 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 ELC. Facilitating labour market participation is a key objective of the NCS. The Scheme is progressive in nature, ensuring the highest subsidies go to families that need it most.

The targeted NCS subsidy supports labour market and education participation of parents by providing an enhanced hours subsidy of 45 hours per week for parents who are engaged in work, study or training. Parents not engaged in work, study or training are entitled to a standard hour subsidy at a maximum of 20 hours per week.

The definition of work or study is broad, covering all forms of work or study arrangements: full-time, part-time and week-on/week-off. Moreover, the minimum hours required to engage in work or study to qualify for up to 45 hours per week is very low – at just two hours per week. In this way, the NCS encourages parents to return to the labour force or education and deliver better outcomes for their children.

In addition to the above, the NCS has been substantially expanded in recent years to further reduce the cost of ELC for families. This includes the extension of the universal subsidy to all children under 15 and two increases to the minimum hourly subsidy, which is now worth a minimum of €96.30 per week for 45 hours. Also, families availing of a Tusla registered childminder can now benefit from an NCS subsidy for the first time.

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

Finally, an evaluation of the NCS is due to start this year. This evaluation will review how the Scheme has performed to date and identify potential enhancements that could be made. Part of this evaluation will examine ways in which the NCS can better support working families and promote flexible working arrangements.

As part of the National Development Plan review the allocation for this Department will increase to €795 million over the next five years. This increased funding will be used in part to provide additional ELC places through future capital programmes, which will primarily focus on implementing the commitment to capital investment in State-owned ELC facilities.

As announced in the context of Budget 2026, €36 million will be available in 2026 for ELC capital programmes. This will include acquisitions of new buildings through the State-led ELC programme, continued investment in expansion of existing ELC operators through the Building Blocks scheme and a number of quality initiatives including supports to childminders.

The Building Blocks Extension Scheme is operating over 2025 and 2026. It is expected that the scheme will deliver up to 1,500 full time new place and areas of identified undersupply. Officials in the Department are currently examining options and detailed specifications for future Building Blocks schemes, and I expect to announce details in early 2026.

In line with the Programme for Government, work is continuing on the development of an Action Plan to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible ELC system. It will include important steps towards this ambition including reducing parental fees to a maximum of €200 per month over the lifetime of this Government.