Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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779. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the actions her Department is taking in response to reports from early-years childcare operators that rising costs are placing unsustainable pressure on services, resulting in over 150 creches withdrawing from the Government scheme (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [66026/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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It should be noted that of the 507 services that withdrew from Core Funding in the first three years of the scheme, 356 of these services were contracted to Core Funding as of August 5, 2025 - meaning over 70% of services who withdrew, subsequently returned to Core Funding.

The Department, through the local Childcare Committees, engage directly with any such services to highlight the benefits of staying in Core Funding, not only for their services but also for the families who avail of them. The Department is hopeful that other providers may reconsider their decision, as so many others have over the past three years.

Core Funding is a supply-side grant to early learning and care (ELC) and/or school-age childcare (SAC) providers towards their operating costs. It is designed to deliver:

• Affordability for parents through ensuring no increases in fees, capping the maximum fees that can be charged, and offering the National Childhood Scheme (NCS) and the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme to all eligible children;
• Quality in services, including through better terms and conditions for staff and supporting graduate leadership in services, to strengthen practice and delivery of high-quality experience for children; and
• Sustainability for providers through substantially increased funding to the sector, paid on a consistent and equitable basis.

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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780. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the steps her Department will take to address the warnings from childcare operators that parents' bills could rise to €1,400 per month due to support funding not keeping pace with costs, leading to fears of closures across the sector (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [66027/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Core Funding has seen consistent increased State investment to the sector year on year and has exceeded €390 million for Year 4 of the scheme, which started in September. This is an increase of over 50% since the scheme began in September 2022 with an allocation of €259 million.

I was delighted to announce further investment in Core Funding in Budget 2026. The additional funding being made available in 2026 will see the allocation for Core Funding in the next programme year which begins in September 2026 increase to almost €437 million. That is an additional €44 million on the current full year allocation, or an 11% increase.

This increased investment will allow for further increases in capacity across the sector and will support Partner Services in adhering to the fee management conditions of the grant including reductions in the maximum fee caps from September 2026. This will guarantee that Core Funding’s monetary protections will continue to be passed on to families while ensuring sustainability and stability for the sector.

In addition to this increased allocation, being in Core Funding unlocks additional supports for services to access, including access to enhanced support for services caring for concentrated numbers of children facing disadvantage through Equal Start and opportunities to apply for capital grants through the Department.

In addition to the increased level of Core Funding for year 4 of the scheme and in Budget 2026, there are wider financial supports available from the Department where a service is experiencing financial difficulty or has concerns about their viability, which can be accessed while remaining within Core Funding.

Once a service engages with their local City/County Childcare Committee, they will be able to avail of supports through the case management process, this support can take the form of general operational supports as well as more specialised advice and support appropriate to the individual circumstances of a service.

The Department also offers Sustainability Funding to services where issue/s have been identified through the Case Management process that have the potential to have serious consequences for their viability. As part of the Case Management process, in which local City or County Childcare Committees (CCCs) 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.

In return for the significant State investment that is available through Core Funding, services signing up to the Scheme agree to abide by a system of fee management, to ensure that affordability measures and increased investment are passed on to parents/guardians.

This began with an effective fee freeze from September 2022. In return for significant funding through the scheme, Partner Services agree not to raise their fees above what was charged to parents as on 30 September 2021. Maximum fee caps were then introduced for new entrants beginning in Year 3 of the Scheme. The maximum fee caps have since been reduced and extended to all new and existing Partner Services in Year 4.

€20.6 million in brand new full-year funding was secured in Budget 2026 to support providers in adhering to Core Funding fee management conditions, including further reductions in the maximum fee caps in the fifth year of the Scheme. This will guarantee that Core Funding’s monetary protections will continue to be passed on to families while ensuring sustainability and stability for the sector.

These latest developments in Core Funding build on a range of supports already in place.

The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme provides two years of pre-school without charge and has participation rates of 96%. Over 70% of families on low income report they could not send their child to pre-school without it.

The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) complements ECCE, giving universal and targeted subsidies to reduce costs to parents. Recent improvements include the extension of the universal subsidy to children under 15 and two increases to the minimum hourly subsidy, now worth €96.30 per week for 45 hours.

Almost 220,000 children benefited from a subsidy in 2024. Since last September, children in childminding settings can also benefit from National Childcare Scheme subsidies.

Work is also under way to develop an Action Plan to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early learning and childcare system, informed by stakeholder consultation. This will set out future steps to reduce the cost of childcare further to €200 per month.

Parents experiencing difficulty in relation to their early learning and childcare needs are encouraged to contact their local City/County Childcare Committee who can support and advise them on options in their area. The network of 30 City/County Childcare Committees across the country are in a position to match children and families to services operating with vacant places and engage proactively with services to explore possibilities for expansion among services, particularly where there is unmet need.

The Department has a list of all Core Funding Partner Services which is updated regularly on the Department’s website under .

Parents/guardians can also use the following website to find Core Funding Partner Services in their area: .

Data from the Tusla Early Years Inspectorate on new service registrations and service closures showed a net increase of 226 in the overall number of services in 2024, including the lowest number of service closures in the past six years.