To be eligible for Core Funding it is necessary for all Partner Services to agree to the Core Funding Fee Management terms and conditions as laid out in the Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement. (earlyyearshive.ncs.gov.ie/Core-Funding-Partner-Service-Funding-Agreement-2024.pdf).
Some Providers may choose to withdraw from Core Funding or not participate/sign up for Year 3 of the Core Funding scheme, therefore, as private businesses, are free to set their own fees and/or increase fees if they wish to do so.
Once contracted into Core Funding services who wish to withdraw must give 3 months’ notice to the scheme administrator of their intention to withdraw. Parents/guardians must also be notified for this withdrawal. The term of the Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement finishes on 31 August for all services.
If a Partner Service introduces a new Service Type, discontinues an existing Service Type, or introduces a new fee for a Service Type, they must provide parents affected by this change with 20 working days of notice ahead of change in service offering.
If a service is not withdrawing mid-programme year, but instead decides not to contract into programme year 3, there is no contractual requirement to give notice.
Core Funding remains open to all eligible providers. To date, over 4,000 providers have either started or submitted their Core Funding application – a figure that is on par with this time last year.
For a list of Partner services, and individual year Core Funding allocations please visit the Together for Better Website (first5fundingmodel.gov.ie/together-for-better/ ).
