Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 May 2026
980. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the position regarding any mechanism in place that seeks to bring childcare facilities that have left the core funding model back into this scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34686/26]
View answer981. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the position regarding any mechanism in place that seeks to bring childcare facilities that have never signed up to the core funding model into this scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34687/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 980 and 981 together.
Core Funding is a supply-side grant to early learning and childcare providers towards their operating costs. It is designed to promote affordability for parents and sustainability for providers through increased funding to the sector, paid on a consistent and equitable basis.
As Core Funding is an optional scheme, service providers have the autonomy and business freedom to withdraw from or choose not to participated in Core Funding, even though this will result in the loss of the significant financial support it offers them and the substantial benefits and certainty it brings to families.
While the Department cannot mandate providers to participate in the Scheme, every effort has been made to carefully design Core Funding to meet the policy objectives including to achieve high levels of participation by providers.
When first introduced in 2022, Core Funding brought a significant increase in investment for the sector with an annual allocation of €259 million. That annual allocation has increased each year since and will exceed €390 million for year 4 of the Scheme, starting from September. This represents an increase of over 50% in Core Funding in three years.
I was delighted to announce further investment in Core Funding in Budget 2026. The additional funding being made available will see the allocation for Core Funding in the next programme year from September 2026 increase to over €480 million. That is an additional €89.3 million on the current full year allocation, or a 23% increase.
The Department has also made changes to improve the sustainability of providers through, for examples, targeted measures for small and sessional services, a fee increase assessment and approval process for services with fees frozen at unsustainably low rates. There are also wider financial supports from the Department for services experiencing financial difficulty.
As recommended by the Expert Group in their report Partnership for the Public Good, the benefits to early learning and childcare providers of participating in Core Funding extends beyond the funding offered through the scheme itself. Being a Partner Service unlocks additional supports available for services to access.
There are wider financial supports available from DCDE where a service is experiencing financial difficulty or has concerns about their viability. These supports can be accessed by any Core Funding Partner Service by contacting their local County/City Childcare Committee and requesting Case Management support.
Participation in Core Funding also unlocks access to enhanced support for services caring for concentrated numbers of children facing disadvantage. Equal Start is a funding model and set of associated universal and targeted measures to support access and meaningful participation in early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) for children and their families who experience disadvantage.
Partner Services also have access to Building Blocks capital grants. This grant has two strands, an Expansion scheme and an Extension scheme to support existing services to increase capacity.
Participation in Core Funding is optional, but it remains open to all Tulsa registered providers, subject to their agreement to the terms and conditions of the Core Funding Agreement. It is a matter for providers to decide whether they wish to sign up to Core Funding and benefit from the significant financial supports it offers to providers and the certainty it gives to parents through the associated fee management measures.
Parents experiencing difficulty in relation to their early learning and childcare needs should contact their local City/County Childcare Committee for assistance. For information, the Department has a list of all Core Funding Partner Services which is updated regularly on the Departments website under How to Find a Partner Service.
