Core Funding, the supply-side grant to providers, requires that all participating services abide by a system of fee management in return for the significant State funding available through the Scheme. This includes a freeze on fees at September 2021 levels and maximum fee caps.
The Core Funding terms and conditions specify that a service opening in a location where a service has been operating will not be considered a new service and must abide by the fees as charged at the established level in accordance with the fee freeze. This is set out in the Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement and Core Funding Rules Document, which distinguishes New Partner Services as:
“.. services that were not in existence on 30 September 2021 and who joined Core Funding in the intervening years”.
The definition of New Partner Service further details that:
“Services that have made changes such as name, address, owner, or legal structure do not qualify as New Partner Services. If a Partner Services […] has been closed for over 6 months and has fully deregistered with Tusla, and subsequently a new services registers in the same location under Tusla, this will be considered to be a New Partner Service”.
The Department is conscious of the importance of promoting affordability for parents without compromising the viability of businesses in the sector, and appropriate safeguards are carefully considered during planning for new developments.
Additional funding secured through Budget 2026 will see the allocation for Core Funding in the next programme year, which begins in September 2026, increase to over €480 million. That is an additional €90 million on the current full year allocation, or a 23% increase.
Within this, over €20 million in brand new full-year funding was secured to support providers in adhering to Core Funding fee management conditions. This is to support Core Funding’s monetary protections continuing to be passed on to families while ensuring sustainability and stability for the sector.
There is a safety net in place for the small number of services who may for any number of reasons require additional supports, to ensure that they can continue to provide this vital service for the public good without needing to withdraw the benefits that Core Funding achieves for parents, such as the fee freeze and fee caps.
All services are encouraged to avail of these supports through their local City/County Childcare Committees if they are facing difficulties with the sustainability of their business. Contact details for the these Committees can be found at the City/County Childcare Committees page on gov.ie.
