The Department supports the ongoing development of existing and new services in the sector through its range of funding schemes and support infrastructure including City/County Childcare Committees.
In particular, Core Funding offers supply-side funding to services to support them with their operational costs. Core Funding operates alongside all other early learning and childcare programmes and constitutes additional income to services on top of these programmes (and parental fees) towards a service’s operating costs.
When first introduced in 2022, Core Funding had an annual allocation of €259 million, of which, €210.8 million was entirely new funding to the sector.
That annual allocation has increased each year since and exceeds €390 million for the fourth and current year of Core Funding. This represents an increase of over 50% in Core Funding over three years. The additional funding is supporting further capacity growth, the maintenance of a fee management system to benefit families and significant improvements to pay and conditions in this valued sector.
The allocation for Core Funding for year 5 of the Scheme will increase again by 22% to over €480 million. This allows the Department to maintain fees at 2021 levels in Year 5, support further improvements in pay for staff, and support services in adhering to reduced maximum fee caps from September 2026 – ensuring sustainability and stability for the sector.
In addition to increased funding, the Department has also made changes to improve the sustainability of providers through, for example, targeted measures for small and sessional services, and a fee increase assessment and approval process for services with fees frozen at unsustainably low rates.
Core Funding funds services based on the number of places available. This provides stability for services, and reduces the risk associated with opening a new service or expanding an already existing service.
The Department will explore further changes for year 5 of the scheme – from September 2026 - based on the operation of year 4 of the Scheme as well as stakeholder input and income and cost data from providers.
As per the table below, Bunnyhops projected full-year Core Funding allocation for the current programme year equates to €63,936.22, representing a year-on-year increase of 24%. The projected allocation for this programme year figure includes funding specifically ringfenced for improvements to staff pay; to support the Employment Regulation Order that came into effect on October 13, 2025.
Core Funding contract values: Years 1 - 4
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Name of provider
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2022/2023
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2023/2024
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2024/2025
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2025/2026
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Change in contract value: 2024/25 -
2025/26
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% Change in contract value: 2024/25 -
2025/26
|
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Bunny Hops Creche & Montessori Ltd
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€50,882.60
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€48,424.48
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€51,418.12
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€63,936.22
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€12,518.10
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24%
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Dublin City CCC have only recently been made aware of Bunnyhops Creche and Montessori's planned closure and are in the process of contacting the service to offer case management support.
Dublin City Childcare Committee can also provide contact information for parents should they need help to secure alternative places. Parents/guardians can also use the following website to find Core Funding Partner Services in their area at www.ncs.gov.ie/en/childcare-search/.
I do not want any Provider to be faced with financial sustainability issues in their delivery of early learning and childcare services. To support services, there are wider financial supports available from the Department. Where a service is experiencing financial difficulty or has viability concerns, these can be accessed while remaining within Core Funding.
This support can take the form of assisting services with interpreting analysis of staff ratios and cash flow, financial support, as well as more specialised advice and support appropriate to individual circumstances.
These supports can be accessed by any Core Funding Partner Service by contacting their local County/City Childcare Committee.
I would encourage any service experiencing difficulty and who would like support should contact their CCC to access case management supports. Contact details for all City and County Childcare Committees are available on the gov.ie website.
The Deputy references staff recruitment and retention in this question. It is acknowledged many early learning and childcare services report recruitment and retention challenges. In general, these challenges are not caused by insufficient supply of staff, but by high levels of turnover which is invariably linked to pay.
In a very competitive labour market and with low levels of unemployment, recruitment and retention is a challenge for many sectors.
Although the Government is the primary funder of the sector, it is not the employer and cannot directly set wages or conditions for any staff in the sector.
The Joint Labour Committee is the formal mechanism established by which employer and employee representatives can negotiate minimum pay rates, which are set down in Employment Regulation Orders, and is independent in its functions.
The latest ERO came into effect in October 2025 which saw an increase in minimum pay rates of, on average, 10% and will increase pay for over 67% of staff in the sector.
Outcomes from the Joint Labour Committee process are supported by Government through Core Funding. In this programme year 2025/26 Core Funding has increased by 6% to approximately €350 million with an additional €45 million in ring-fenced Core Funding provided to support services in meeting the increased cost of minimum pay rates in the sector.
In line with the Programme for Government commitment to continue to support Employment Regulation orders, I recently announced, as part of launch of Shaping the Future: Early Years Action Plan in December, another allocation of up to €15m of ring-fenced funding from September 2026, which amounts up to €45m for the full programme year, to support service providers with costs associated with possible increases in minimum rates of pay negotiated via the independent Joint Labour Committee process.
In December 2023, a Sub-Group of the Early Learning and Childcare Stakeholder Forum was established to address recruitment and retention challenges. The group has advanced initiatives including:
• A Student Fast-track Process for recognition of studies to work in service out of term,
• The assessment of unfinished qualifications, where people who may have started a relevant qualification but did not get to finish it, can have what they completed assessed for meeting qualification requirements
• An agreement to promote careers in the sector.
To further support staff retention, the Nurturing Skills Learner Fund enables educators who continue to work within the sector to pursue Level 7 and 8 qualifications by funding over 90% of their tuition costs. Over 700 staff are now supported through the NSLF scheme.
The NSLF scheme demonstrates how we are already delivering on our Programme for Government commitment to ‘remove barriers in education and training for early years educators to broaden access to the profession.
Complementing wider Departmental policies to improve pay and working conditions, to support recruitment and retention, and to streamline administration and regulation, Equal Start was launched in early 2024. Equal Start includes a commitment to roll out well-being supports for Managers, educators and practitioners and supports for early learning and care and school-age childcare settings to enable more supportive working environments to be created for staff. A pilot employee assistance programme is currently in operation in five City/County Childcare Committees. There is a commitment to roll out an employee assistance programme nationally in the future.
On the matter of expanding capacity, I recently announced €135 million in capital investment in buildings for high-quality, accessible State-led early learning and childcare. The process will begin in 2026 with investment in buildings in what will be a ground-breaking initiative for this government. Capital funding will be used to acquire and/or fit out the building, depending on requirements.
There will be a particular focus in the new state-led facilities on providing places for 1-3 year old children because this is where the need is greatest.
The Department is assessing sites and buildings which align with the goals of the programme and, where required, will seek expressions of interest from operators to deliver these State-led services. No final decisions have yet been made on the specific projects.
Local City and County Childcare Committees will be supporting the development of projects. In the first instance, we are asking anyone who might have a suitable premises or project to contact their local City/County Childcare Committee.
Information on the objectives, criteria, and processes that will apply to the selection and prioritisation of projects under this programme is available here: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-children-disability-and-equality/publications/state-led-early-learning-and-childcare-capital-programme/
Separately, the Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme 2025 is currently in operation. Successful applicants are in the process of finalising the legal formalities associated with the scheme, with some services actively delivering their projects.
Following on from the success of the Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme, a further Building Blocks scheme will open for applications in 2026. This round of capital funding will focus on funding extensions to existing premises to allow for increased numbers of children to be offered places on a full-time basis. Community and private providers who are currently Core Funding partner services will be eligible to apply for this scheme.
