Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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890. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of early learning and childcare providers in County Louth that are in receipt of Core Funding; the proportion of total providers this represents in the county; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [62863/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The fourth programme year of Core Funding began on 1 September. As of 13 November 2025, 4,538 services have signed up to the fourth year of Core Funding. This represents over 92% of all eligible services and this number continues to grow.

In total, data from Pobal confirms that, as of November 13, there are 4,911 childcare providers in the state eligible for receipt of Core Funding. Of this number, there are 113 providers operating in Co. Louth – 110 of whom are in receipt of Core Funding – representing a 97.35% county-wide take-up rate of Core Funding

The 110 Core Funding Partner Services operating in Louth, equates to 2.4% of all Core Funding Partner Services (as of November 13).

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

Participation in Core Funding is optional, but it remains open throughout the year to all registered providers subject to their agreement to the terms and conditions of the Scheme.