Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 June 2026
69. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to provide capacity data for 2025-2026 programme year for early learning and care and school age childcare for cork county as part of the early years sector profile; the way in which this data is being used to address the urgent issues of supply meeting childcare demand for County Cor; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47537/26]
View answerEach year, Pobal compiles data from Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) providers as part of the Early Years Sector Profile. This data is typically collected in May or June of each year. It provides an estimate of the number of children enrolled in ELC and SAC and the percentage of services with at least one vacant place at a given time. For Cork, the data are reported separately for Cork County and Cork City.
The most recent published capacity data for the 2024/25 programme year estimated that there were 17,025 children enrolled in ELC and SAC services in Cork County. This data also indicated that 43% of services in Cork County had at least one vacant place. In Cork City, there were an estimated 8,613 children enrolled in ELC and SAC services and 40% of services had at least one vacant place.
Data for the 2025/26 Early Years Sector Profile was collected between 5 May and 12 June of this year. This information is now being prepared for publication and will be available on the Early Learning and Childcare data website in due course.
Officials in the Department of Children, Disability and Equality use this data to monitor trends across the sector. In addition, a Forward Planning Model has been developed by officials in the Department to better understand the nature of ELC and SAC supply/demand misalignment and to inform decisions on the Department’s approach to supporting the right level of supply to be delivered. The model uses administrative data from a range of sources and mapping tools and can generate analysis at a local level.
The Forward Planning Model is intended for use in internal analysis and informing decisions on capital spending. The analysis of the Forward Planning Model provides a key input into the appraisal of potential projects for the State-led Early Learning and Childcare Programme which is resourced through the allocation in the revised National Development Plan 2026-30.
