Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 September 2024
263. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will provide an updated timeframe for when a decision will be made on the applications for a fee review by early years’ service providers. [37216/24]
View answerUp to now, services availing of Core Funding have not been allowed to raise their fees above what was charged to parents on 30 September 2021 (or at the point of first signing up for Core Funding if the service did not exist on 30 September 2021).
The fee freeze will remain in place for the majority of these services for year 3 of Core Funding, though services whose fees have been frozen at a level that may not be sufficient to sustain their business even with increased funding available through Core Funding, will have the opportunity to apply for a Fee Increase Assessment.
Only services currently charging low fees (fees below the average in their county) will be eligible to apply and the onus will be on the provider to demonstrate a need for a fee increase. Any approved fee increases will not go above the increased universal NCS subsidy that a parent would be receiving for the full hours offered within the fee. This means that parents receiving the universal NCS subsidy for the full hours offered in these services will not face higher costs.
To date my Department has received 696 self-declaration forms which is step 1 of the process. Of these 285 have completed the second step which is the submission of an application.
Once the submission is reviewed a service will receive a Template notice letter of potential changes which may be shared with parents informing them that their service has applied to increase their fees and noting that any potential increase will not exceed €33.30 for 45 hours or more of care. Once the submission is assessed the service will receive a decision letter usually within 20 working days of receiving the Template notice letter.
