Written Answers Nos. 935-954
935. Deputy Paula Butterly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 828 of 19 May 2026, if she will respond to further correspondence received (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40080/26]
View answerI absolutely acknowledge the pressures described in the correspondence and I recognise the significant role providers, educators and practitioners play in supporting children, families, and the wider economy.
I am taking steps to respond to the operational and workforce challenges across the sector, including recruitment and retention, regulatory requirements, and financial sustainability. Ongoing engagement with stakeholders is a key priority to ensure that policy development and implementation are informed by the lived experience of those working within the sector.
To support this, the Department has established a comprehensive stakeholder engagement framework, which includes policy-specific consultations, reviews and evaluations with sector representatives. This includes structured engagement through the Early Learning and Care Stakeholder Forum, the Early Learning and Care Provider Consultative Forum, as well as various standing committees, subgroups, and working groups.
The Early Learning and Care Stakeholder Forum provides a platform for regular and meaningful dialogue between the Department and 23 key stakeholders across the sector. The Forum meets at least three times annually, in addition to an annual Estimates briefing, and is chaired by the Assistant Secretary of the Early Learning and Childcare Division. Meetings in 2026 have taken place in January and April, with a further meeting scheduled for June. I attend these meetings where possible
In addition, the Early Learning and Childcare Provider Consultative Forum facilitates direct engagement with providers on policy and operational matters. This forum comprises individual providers and representative organisations, who are invited to share their views, concerns, and suggestions. The most recent meeting took place in May 2026, with the next scheduled for November.
Through these engagement mechanisms, I and staff in the Department listen to and consider the perspectives of providers and educators/practitioners, with a view to informing policy responses and supporting the ongoing development and sustainability of the sector.
I remain committed to continued engagement and to working collaboratively with stakeholders to address the challenges identified.
Shaping the Future: The Early Years Action Plan, Phase 1 report (published on the 17 December 2025) sets out measures to achieve key Programme for Government commitments on the affordability, quality, and accessibility of early learning and care and school-age childcare.
The Action Plan adopts a phased approach that enables action to be taken in 2026 while allowing adequate time for a broad public consultation and analysis on longer-term actions, which will be set out in a second report to be published by the end of 2026. Many of the actions outlined respond to the issues raised in the correspondence.
Simplify and Support, the Action Plan for Simplification was also published on 17 December 2025.
The objectives of Shaping the Future are to:
• Reduce parental fees to a maximum of €200 per month over the lifetime of the Government, building on the combination of National Childcare Scheme subsidies and fee-control measures in Core Funding.
• Increase the supply of places, strengthening supply-side funding to support services’ sustainability and staff wages, while introducing State-led facilities to complement other measures to increase capacity.
• Widen opportunities for children with disabilities, extending the Access and Inclusion Model to children in age-groups outside the Early Childhood Care and Education programme.
• Contribute to the reduction of child poverty, continuing roll-out of the Equal Start programme, and improving subsidies for lower-income families.
• Enhance the quality of provision, particularly through measures to support wages, working conditions and professional development of the workforce.
The objectives of Simplify and Support are to:
• Simplify the programmes and schemes.
• Simplify regulatory and compliance requirements.
• Upgrade the digital system.
• Enable ‘once-only’ data capture.
• Develop clear and accessible guidance.
• Strengthen provider capacity and supports.
• Enhance coordination between bodies.
• Simplify processes for parents.
There is work now underway to develop Phase 2 of Shaping the Future. To inform this, the Department undertaking a public consultation process on the future of ELC and SAC (including childminders) as part of the wider National Conversation on Education: the First 5 years and School-Age Childcare. This broad consultation process seeks views from parents, educators, practitioners, childminders, providers, community members and other stakeholders. There are a number of channels that have allowed these stakeholders to make sure their voices are heard and raise important topics including challenges currently facing the ELC and SAC sector. So far there has been a national survey with over 11,000 responses, a telephone poll of 500 households with children under 14 years and over 50 local consultation events organised by the City and County Childcare Committees with at least one event in each county. A national consultation day event will also take place later in the year - the Shaping the Future National Forum: Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare. Input gathered during the National Conversation will inform both Phase 2 of Shaping the Future—the Government’s Early Years Action Plan—and the successor to the First 5 Strategy, Ireland’s Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families.
936. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the status of Ireland’s transposition of the Pay Transparency Directive; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40217/26]
View answer937. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she is satisfied that Ireland will be in a position to transpose the elements of the Pay Transparency Directive; if she will set out a timeline for this transposition; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40218/26]
View answer938. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she is aware of concerns outlined by other EU member states in relation to their ability to transpose certain aspects of the Pay Transparency Directive specifically in relation to reporting on the gender pay gap; her views in relation to these difficulties, if such difficulties apply to Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40219/26]
View answer939. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality in relation to the Pay Transparency Directive, the difficulties for Ireland in the transposition of that directive into Irish Law; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40220/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 936, 937, 938 and 939 together.
The Pay Transparency Directive is crucial to empower workers, and especially women, to enforce their right to equal pay through a set of binding measures on pay transparency, to strengthen the transparency of pay systems, to improve public understanding of the relevant legal concepts, and to enhance enforcement of the rights and obligations relating to equal pay. It is also crucial to the financial and economic empowerment of women – a key objective under the National Strategy for Women and Girls 2025-2030. The 2024 gender pay gap in Ireland is estimated at 8.3% – this means that, on average, women are paid 8.3% less per hour than men. There are many likely reasons for this, including that women’s earning power can be impacted by periods of unpaid leave or part time work for caring responsibilities. Women are also under-represented in higher-paid decision-making roles, and there is evidence that, as prospective employees, women may be less likely than men to negotiate higher starting salaries with prospective employers.
The Government is fully committed to the complete and meaningful implementation of the Directive, with the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 transposing a large portion of the Directive, particularly in relation to Article 9 on Gender Pay Gap Reporting. The implementation of the Gender Pay Gap Information Act and associated regulations require employers to report their gender pay gap each year, and the measures that are being taken to eliminate or reduce the gap.
Work is ongoing at pace to develop the necessary legislation to transpose the remaining provisions of the Pay Transparency Directive as soon as possible, including the obligation for employers to carry out Gender-Neutral Job Evaluation and to categorise employees and calculate the gender pay gap in such categories. Officials have been working towards the June 7 deadline for implementation. However, a number of factors have impacted on this work, and the EU Commission has been informed that Ireland will not have the Directive fully transposed by the 7th June. Such factors affecting the transposition include the delay in completing a series of EU Commission workshops on the transposition of the Directive until late September 2025, and the employer guidance and toolkit developed by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) and the European Commission was not published until the end of March this year. A dedicated Irish Employer Gender-Neutral Job Evaluation toolkit, based on the recently published EIGE toolkit, is being commissioned by the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. Employers will be invited to attend training workshops based on this adapted toolkit.
The Department will work with employers, employees and their representatives to support and enable implementation of the Directive, which will be on a phased basis once the passage of the legislation is complete. Employers will not be penalised for not having all elements of Directive completed in June 2026 and the Department has been working with stakeholders to communicate this message. At present, employers will remain obligated to calculate and publish information on their gender pay gap by the end of November and, following a small amendment to the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021, employers will be obligated to report that information to the Minister via the dedicated Gender Pay Gap Portal for the 2026 Reporting Cycle.
940. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the measures she plans to introduce to address the issue of childcare in towns such as Kilcock; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38706/26]
View answerImproving access to quality and affordable Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare is a key priority of Government.
Early learning and childcare capacity is increasing. Data from the Annual Early Years Sector Profile 2024/25 shows that the estimated number of enrolments increased by approximately 25% from the 2021/22 programme year. However, it appears that demand for early learning and childcare remains higher than available supply in certain parts of the country, particularly for younger children.
The Department continues to support the ongoing development and resourcing of Core Funding which has given rise to a significant expansion of places since the scheme was first introduced. Core Funding, which is in its fourth programme year, funds services based on the number of places available.
This provides stability to services, and reduces the risk associated with opening a new service or expanding an already existing service.
The Government is also supporting the expansion of capacity through capital funding. The Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme is designed to increase capacity in the 1–3-year-old, pre–Early Childhood Care and Education, age range for full day care. Core Funding Partner Services could apply for capital funding to physically extend their premises or to construct or purchase new premises. The Scheme will deliver up to 1,500 full-day care places for 1- to 3-year-olds.
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. Details can be found here: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-children-disability-and-equality/publications/building-blocks-extension-scheme-phase-2/.
Separately, I recently announced €135 million of capital investment over the coming five years for State-led services to provide high-quality, accessible early learning and childcare. The process will begin in 2026 with investment in buildings in what will be a ground-breaking initiative.
Up to eight buildings will be selected for investment this year. The State-led initiative will provide thousands of places up to 2030.
The Department also 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. The contact details for the Kildare County Childcare Committee may be found at www.kccc.ie.
941. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of children placed by Tusla with foster families through private-for-profit foster care agencies in each of the past five years, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38717/26]
View answerAs this question relates to operational information held by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, the question has been referred to the Agency to reply directly to the Deputy.
942. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the total amount of public money paid by Tusla to private-for-profit foster care agencies that place children with foster families in each of the past five years, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38718/26]
View answerAs this question relates to operational information held by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, the question has been referred to the Agency to reply directly to the Deputy.
943. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the name of all private-for-profit companies and agencies used by Tusla to place children with foster families during each of the past five years; the number of children placed through each company; the amount paid to each company in each year concerned; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38719/26]
View answerAs this question relates to operational information held by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, the question has been referred to the Agency to reply directly to the Deputy.
944. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the percentage of all foster family placements arranged through private-for-profit foster care agencies in each of the past five years, as distinct from placements arranged directly through Tusla foster carers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38720/26]
View answerAs this question relates to operational information held by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, the question has been referred to the Agency to reply directly to the Deputy.
945. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the average annual cost to the State, per child, of placements arranged through private-for-profit foster care agencies that place children with foster families, compared with the average annual cost per child of placements arranged directly through Tusla foster carers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38721/26]
View answerAs this question relates to operational information held by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, the question has been referred to the Agency to reply directly to the Deputy.
946. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality when a child (details supplied) in County Donegal will receive an urgent appointment with the CDNT; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38743/26]
View answerAs this question refers to the service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
947. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the plans to expand paid surrogacy leave to parents of new-born children born through surrogacy, either within Ireland or abroad; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38744/26]
View answerI wish to acknowledge the difficulties faced by couples pursuing surrogacy arrangements and reaffirm Government's commitment to recognising and supporting Irish families in all their diversity.
The Programme for Government 2025 - Securing Ireland's Future commits to introducing paid surrogacy leave and department officials are examining how best to implement this commitment. They are also engaging with officials from the Department of Social Protection as the Minister for Social Protection has responsibility for the payment of any associated benefits.
The Minister for Health leads on the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024, which includes provisions in relation to surrogacy which have implications for the introduction of surrogacy leave, while policy on parentage is a matter for the Minister for Justice. It is not possible to finalise provisions in relation to surrogacy leave in advance of the commencement of that Act as it will determine who is to be recognised as a parent when a child is born through a surrogacy arrangement.
Decisions on the date of commencement of the 2024 Act are matters for the Minister for Health. I can assure the Deputy that this Department will work closely with relevant Departments, once the 2024 Act has commenced, to progress proposals for surrogacy leave.
While it is not as comprehensive as paid surrogacy leave, the Deputy may be interested to note that under the Parent’s Leave and Benefit Act 2019 (as amended), working parents are entitled to nine weeks of paid Parents' Leave for each relevant parent, to be taken in the first two years after the birth or adoptive placement of a child. Intending parents from a surrogacy agreement may be entitled to Parents’ Leave, depending on their circumstances. The father of a child born through surrogacy can qualify for Parents’ Leave if he is the biological father of the child and declared to be the parent of the child. In these circumstances, the father's partner may qualify for Parents’ Leave if they are married to, or in a civil partnership with, the child’s biological father, or have cohabited with the child’s biological father for over 3 years.
The father of a child born through surrogacy can also qualify for Paternity Leave if he is the biological father of the child and declared to be the father of the child. The leave entitlement is for two weeks, to be taken within six months of the child's birth.
Both the biological father and the other parent can qualify for 26 weeks each of unpaid Parental Leave if acting in loco parentis in respect of a child under 12. This can be extended until a child reaches the age of 16 if they have a disability or long-term illness.
948. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the mechanisms in place in her Department to ensure delivery on the commitments in the Programme for Government; the civil servant specifically responsible for overseeing such delivery; the measures that are used to assess progress; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38806/26]
View answerThe Department is currently collating the information requested and a reply will issue directly to the Deputy on this matter as soon as possible.
949. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 2521 of 14 April 2026, the position regarding the complaint (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38852/26]
View answerCore Funding payments have currently not been placed on hold in relation to the Fee Review Process, for this Partner Service.
Following a determination of the Fee Review Process, and any further decisions as a result of an Appeal, a Partner Service has 60 days from the date of decision issue to demonstrate its compliance with the outcome and the remedial actions as prescribed in the decision letter.
The Partner Service must submit a Declaration and evidence of remedial actions having been carried out at the end of the 60 days. If a repayment plan is agreed between the Partner Service and the Parents/Guardians, the repayment timeframe may take longer to complete than the 60 days.
Funding to a Partner Service can be placed on hold for various non-compliance reasons as laid out in the Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement, including but not limited to, non-engagement in the Fee Review process and noncompliance with the remedial actions required in relation to the Fee Review process.
As of the 21 May 2026 the service in question remains a Partner Service in receipt of Core Funding.
950. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the position regarding the number of childcare centres that have withdrawn from the core funding scheme since it was established, broken down by year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38885/26]
View answer951. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the position regarding the number of childcare centres that have withdrawn from the core funding scheme since it was established, broken down by county; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38886/26]
View answer1045. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of childcare providers that have exited the core funding model, broken down by local authority area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40130/26]
View answer1048. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality in relation to any childcare provider that has left the core funding model, if the basis for their leaving is categorised; if so, if there is a commonality as to the reason many centres are leaving the scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40134/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 950, 951, 1045 and 1048 together.
I am aware that a small number of childcare services have regrettably chosen to withdraw from Core Funding.
In the interest of clarity, transparency and consistent reporting, I have defined a service that left Core Funding as any service that had a gap between contracts for Core Funding of 4 or more weeks.
There are a number of reasons that a service might fall into this definition. For example, a service could have withdrawn from the scheme, been removed from the scheme for breach of rules, or experienced a delay in re-contracting following a change of circumstance application or between programme years. Many services have left and later re-joined the scheme. There may be a small number of services who left the scheme and subsequently closed at a later date and are not captured in the figures below.
As of 3 November 2025, there were 5,035 services listed as being open on the Early Years Platform, of which 177 (4%) had left Core Funding at one point over the lifetime of the scheme to this date and continue to operate outside of this scheme. A further 415 services (8%) had left Core Funding at one point over the lifetime of the scheme to this date but later rejoined and were signed up to the fourth year of the scheme on this date. The overwhelming majority of services, 4,157 or 83%, have continued to participate in Core Funding from the date on which they first signed up for the scheme.
It should be noted that of the 592 services that have left the scheme at one point, some 415 services were contracted to Core Funding as of 3 November 2025 - meaning over 70% of services who left the scheme at one point have now returned to Core Funding.
The table below provides a breakdown of engagement with Core Funding in each programme year. Some services may have left and rejoined multiple times across the three years, and therefore the figures cannot be summed across programme years from the breakdown below. It should be noted that not all of the currently operating services will have been in existence for all programme years, and not all services that had operated in previous years will be currently operating. The table below provides a breakdown of the services that have left Core Funding in each programme year by county division. Some services may have left and re-joined multiple times across the three years, and therefore the figures cannot be summed across programme years from the breakdown below.
|
|
Year 1 (2022/2023) |
Year 2 (2023/2024) |
Year 3 (2024/2025) |
Year 4 (2025/2026) |
|
Continued Participation |
3,728 |
2,863 |
4,199 |
4,570 |
|
Left and later returned |
162 |
202 |
106 |
2 |
|
Left and remained out |
13 |
94 |
68 |
1 |
|
Did not participate |
1,132 |
876 |
668 |
462 |
|
COUNTY DIVISION |
Year 1 (2022/2023) |
Year 2 (2023/2024) |
Year 3 (2024/2025) |
Year 4 (2025/2026) |
|
Cork City |
2 |
4 |
5 |
0 |
|
County Carlow |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
County Cavan |
2 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
|
County Clare |
5 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
|
County Cork |
12 |
15 |
14 |
0 |
|
County Donegal |
12 |
9 |
17 |
0 |
|
County Galway |
24 |
30 |
16 |
1 |
|
County Kerry |
5 |
9 |
5 |
0 |
|
County Kildare |
11 |
11 |
7 |
0 |
|
County Kilkenny |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
County Laois |
5 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
|
County Leitrim |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
County Limerick |
6 |
11 |
2 |
0 |
|
County Longford |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
County Louth |
6 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
|
County Mayo |
7 |
12 |
0 |
0 |
|
County Meath |
4 |
13 |
16 |
0 |
|
County Monaghan |
0 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
|
County Offaly |
7 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
|
County Roscommon |
1 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
|
County Sligo |
0 |
5 |
5 |
0 |
|
County Tipperary |
12 |
14 |
3 |
0 |
|
County Waterford |
5 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
|
County Westmeath |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
County Wexford |
4 |
11 |
6 |
2 |
|
County Wicklow |
2 |
12 |
3 |
0 |
|
Dublin City |
17 |
56 |
28 |
0 |
|
Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown |
8 |
10 |
8 |
0 |
|
Fingal |
7 |
29 |
9 |
0 |
|
South Dublin |
9 |
17 |
8 |
0 |
It should be noted that of the services tabulated above, over 70% of services had returned to participate in Core Funding as of 3 November 2025
Uptake of Core Funding remains strong. As of 18 May 2026, there were 4,636 services signed up to the fourth year of Core Funding which represents 93% uptake by eligible services. This is the highest number of Partner Services in Core Funding at any point since the scheme was launched in 2022 and the number continues to grow.
I am encouraged by this rate of participation: it shows the vast majority of families will continue to benefit from the scheme’s fee management conditions.
I trust this information is of assistance.
952. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her attention has been drawn to the withdrawal of a childcare facility from the core funding model (details supplied); the actions she will take to support parents with the knock-on price increase; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38887/26]
View answer953. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the position regarding the engagement that her Department has had with the management of a childcare facility (details supplied) prior to their withdrawal from the core funding model; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38888/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 952 and 953 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, providers have the autonomy to withdraw from or choose not to participate in the scheme. 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.
In relation to The Magic Roundabout childcare service, the projected full-year Core Funding allocation for programme year 2 equated to €188,820.82. This represented an increase of 6% since the scheme was first introduced. The table below outlines the Core Funding allocations for this service.
|
Name of provider |
2022/2023 Core Funding received |
2023/2024 Core Funding received |
|
*Beautiful Minds Creche & Montessori
*Currently known as The Magic Roundabout |
€ 177,579.70 |
€ 188,820.82 |
Please note, this service provider is not currently in contract for Core Funding. This service was last signed up for Core Funding in the 2023/24 programme year, which elapsed in August 2024. They did not rejoin in September 2024. Their last payment allocation for Core Funding was dated up to 31/08/2024
While the State cannot mandate providers to participate in the scheme, Core Funding has been designed with maximum participation of providers in mind as reflected in the year-on-year growth of investment in the Scheme (rising from €259 million in 2022 to over €390 million in 2025). This represents an increase of over 50% in Core Funding in three years.
I was pleased to announce further investment in Core Funding in Budget 2026. The additional funding being made available in 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 €89.3 million on the current full year allocation, or a 23% increase.
The Department has a list of all Core Funding Partner Services which is updated regularly on the Department’s website under [How to Find a Partner Service].
Regardless of whether the early learning and childcare service which their child attends is participating in Core Funding, both the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme and the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) are currently available to parents.
The Local Childcare Committee can 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/
The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides financial support to help parents reduce the cost of early learning and childcare in the form of a subsidy paid directly to the childcare provider. Subsidies are available for children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years of age. The minimum rate available to all families in Ireland is €2.14 per hour, which is available for up to 45 weekly hours. Depending on the child's age and the family's income, an additional income assessed subsidy may be available to provide additional support.
Effective September 2026, the NCS income thresholds will increase significantly, expanding eligibility for subsidies. The lower income threshold rises to €34,000 (from €26,000), allowing more families to access maximum subsidies, while the upper threshold increases to €68,000 (from €60,000). This also means that most families currently receiving an income assessed award will see an increase in their subsidy due to positive tapering effects.
954. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her views on whether the existing core funding model is fit-for-purpose; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38889/26]
View answer955. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her views on whether the core funding model is suitable for childcare centres based in Dublin and other areas where rent is significantly higher; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38890/26]
View answer956. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the position regarding any review of the core funding model to allow for significant discrepancies in operation costs for childcare centres based in Dublin and other areas where rent is significantly higher; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38891/26]
View answer957. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the position regarding any review of the core funding model that would allow for greater flexibility to account for specific circumstances in cases whereby the existing model is forcing providers to leave the scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38892/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 954, 955, 956 and 957 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.
The introduction of Core Funding in 2022 brought a significant increase in investment for the sector, with €259m of funding paid directly to services in year 1 of the scheme, and it is important to note that €210.8m of this was entirely new funding.
The annual allocation has increased each year since and has exceeded €390 million for year 4 of the Scheme, which started in September. This represents an increase of over 50% in Core Funding in three years.
Further investment in Core Funding was announced in Budget 2026. The additional funding being made available in 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 €90.1 million on the current full year allocation, giving rise to a significant increase of 23%.
Within the Core Funding allocation for the 2025/26 programme year, €45 million has been ringfenced to support employers in meeting the costs of further increases to the minimum rates of pay across the sector, as set out under the updated Employment Regulation Orders.
The calculation of a services Core Funding grant contains multiple elements – the Base Rate, Graduate Premiums, Targeted Measures and the new Staff Funding Additional Contribution.
It is important to note that although there are various elements used to derive the grants for individual services, the eligible areas of expenditure of the Core Funding grant are much broader. Services can choose how to spend their Core Funding grant in accordance with the approved areas of expenditure outlined in the Funding Agreement. The Staff Funding Additional Contribution is the only element of the grant which has a prescribed use.
Since the Scheme was introduced, its effectiveness has been subject to ongoing assessment, which has facilitated the iterative evolution of this scheme.
An evaluation of the first year of Core Funding and the development of an evaluation framework for Core Funding is currently underway. This project will examine the early implementation of Core Funding and make recommendations for future evaluations of the grant. Findings from the project are expected in the coming months.
This review will provide a robust mechanism that will allow the Department, on an ongoing basis, to conduct more robust assessments of the efficacy and efficiency of Core Funding. It will set out an evaluation framework for Core Funding so that subsequent medium and long-term evaluations can ensure the scheme is meeting its intended objectives and that it is an efficient use of exchequer funding.
This project is being undertaken by Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service or IGEES policy analysts working in the Research and Evaluation Unit of my Department.
It is acknowledged that rent may be a cost pressure to Dublin based providers; however, it should be noted that Dublin based providers also operate from an overall higher income base than their counterparts in other parts of the country. This is evidenced by the median fees charged to parents across the country – as captured below:
|
Nationwide Average |
€187.46 |
|
Dublin Average |
€233.96 |
|
Difference in averages |
€46.49 |
|
% Difference |
25% |
Comparison pertains to 2025 data
The annual changes to the allocation model and in the conditions attached to the funding has ensured the Scheme remains responsive, balancing the needs of providers while seeking also to meet a range of other objectives.
Regardless of whether the early learning and childcare service which their child attends is participating in Core Funding, both the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme and the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) are currently available to parents.
These schemes have made a significant impact on improving affordability of early learning and childcare for families.
The Department is confident in the adequacy of Core Funding for this sector. However, in addition to the increased levels of Core Funding since the scheme was introduced, there are wider financial supports available from the Department where a service is experiencing financial difficulty or has concerns about their viability.
