Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 June 2026
813. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if there are plans to remove childcare facilities who are not in receipt of core funding, from ECCE and the national childcare scheme, given concerns have been raised by providers in relation to this; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45888/26]
View answerCore 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.
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.
Core Funding has enjoyed high participation from the sector since its launch in September 2022.
As of 5 June, 4,648 services are contracted to Core Funding in programme year 2025/2026, which is 93.3% of all eligible services. Over 70% of services who left the scheme at one point have returned to the Scheme. 335 eligible services are currently not participating. These services are welcome to join Core Funding at any stage. The Department/CCC can support services with further information on how to join.
Currently, services that provide the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme and/or the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) are not required to take part in Core Funding, reducing the impact of the NCS as some families are not benefiting from the fee-control measures (fee-freeze and fee caps) or additional funding for quality provision that is provided by Core Funding. This will also be the case for the coming programme year 2026/2027.
To deliver on the Programme for Government commitment to progressively reduce parental fees to €200 per month, the Phase 1 report of Shaping the Future states that a roadmap will be set out in Phase 2 to ensure that all publicly funded providers are supported to take part in Core Funding.
As noted in the Phase 1 report, this will include measures to reduce the administrative burden for providers of participating in publicly funded schemes.
In relation to concerns over the impacts, it is anticipated that the supports provided will result in an increase in the proportion of eligible services that are taking part in Core Funding, which will in turn increase the proportion of families who benefit from the fee-controls (fee-freeze and fee-caps) that are conditions of Core Funding, as well as benefiting providers through supporting their sustainability. It should also bring benefits to early years educators, SAC practitioners and children through extending the reach of the additional public funding and measures to promote quality and access in services.
Phase 2 of Shaping the Future is in development and will be published by year end.
