Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 July 2025
638. Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of creche groups that have pulled out of core funding in 2023, 2024 and to date in 2025, in tabular form, by county; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35391/25]
View answerCore Funding was introduced in September 2022.
The Scheme is designed to improve affordability for parents through the introduction of fee management and contractual requirements on providers to offer the National Childcare Scheme and/or the ECCE programme.
The Scheme aims to improve quality through better pay and conditions for the workforce by supporting agreement on Employment Regulation Orders by the Joint Labour Committee.
It also aims to improve sustainability of services.
Over 92% of services are currently signed up in year 3 of Core Funding.
Participation in Core Funding is optional, but it remains open to all registered providers subject to their agreement to the terms and conditions of the funding.
As of 17 June, 38 services have withdrawn from Core Funding since its introduction. One of which has subsequently since re-entered the Scheme.
Please see table below, the number of providers, by County, that have exited from the core funding scheme in 2023, 2024 and to date in 2025;
|
County |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
|
Cavan |
1 |
||
|
Clare |
1 (later re-entered) |
2 |
|
|
Cork City |
5 |
1 |
|
|
Dublin |
5 |
2 |
5 |
|
Galway |
1 |
3 |
|
|
Kilkenny |
1 |
||
|
Laois |
1 |
||
|
Longford |
1 |
||
|
Mayo |
1 |
||
|
Waterford |
2 |
||
|
Westmeath |
1 |
||
|
Wicklow |
5 |
As per the latest data, there are 140 services who remain open and operational, who had previously contracted into Core Funding year 1 or 2, and have not contracted into Core Funding for the current programme year.
While my Department cannot mandate providers to participate in schemes, every effort has been made to carefully design Core Funding to meet the policy objectives including to achieve high levels of participation by providers.
It is a matter for providers to decide whether they wish to withdraw from the Core Funding scheme, the significant financial supports it provides to providers and the certainty it provides to parents through the associated fee freeze. However, I am confident that given the level of investment and associated supports, services should not need to take this step.
While a service provider intends to withdraw from Core Funding, they remain eligible in this programme year to provide the National Childcare Scheme, the Early Childhood Care and Education programme and the Community Childcare Subvention Plus Saver programme.
Supports are available from my Department where a service is experiencing financial difficulty or has concerns about their viability, accessed through local City/County Childcare Committees.
I encourage services to avail of these supports as an alternative to withdrawing from Core Funding and removing the benefits of this Scheme to parents.
Additionally, my Department funds 30 City/County Childcare Committees, which provide support and assist families and early learning and childcare providers. The network of 30 City/County Childcare Committees across the country can assist in identifying vacant places in services for children and families who need them and engage proactively with services to explore possibilities for expansion among services, particularly where there is unmet need.
Parents experiencing difficulty in relation to their early learning and childcare needs should contact their local City/County Childcare Committee for assistance. Parents can use the following website to find Core Funding Partner Services in their area at www.ncs.gov.ie/en/childcare-search/.
