Written Answers Nos. 386-400
386. Deputy Colm Brophy asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated cost of increasing funding to the core funding scheme by 10%; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45863/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraCore Funding is a grant to Early Learning and Care (ELC) and/or School Age Childcare (SAC) providers towards their operating costs. The majority of Core Funding is distributed based on a service's capacity - the opening hours, opening weeks and the age group of children for whom services are provided as well as number of places available.
The introduction of Core Funding in 2022 brought a significant increase in investment for the sector, with €259 million of funding paid directly to services in year 1 of the scheme, of which €210.8 million was entirely new funding.
One of the key objectives of Core Funding is to support the sector as a whole with the introduction of direct supply-side funding, in addition to the ECCE programme and the NCS, to create a more stable and sustainable financial environment.
This funding, which increased by 11% (to €287 million) in year 2, increased again by another 15% in year 3 (to €331 million). A 10% increase to the current programme year costs of €331.04 million would be €33.104m.
The current funding allocation facilitates the following changes from 2 September:
The Base Rates for all age groups are increasing with larger increases in funding for places offered to children under the age of three. All providers currently signed up to Core Funding will receive a higher payment going forward to support their day-to-day costs.
The flat rate for services registered on the Tusla Early Years Register as sessional-only is increasing from €4,075 to €5,000. This will strengthen supports to sessional-only services, who typically operate for shorter hours per week and fewer weeks per year.
The minimum Base Rate allocation is increasing from €8,150 to €14,000. This is the minimum amount of funding a centre-based service will receive through their Base Rate. This ensures a minimum guaranteed income for services. This increase supports for smaller services and services operating in rural areas, who may be prone to fluctuations in demand.
Core Funding makes a significant additional contribution to services’ income, allowing them to better absorb increased costs such as staffing and energy costs.
Core Funding is set to rise to a minimum of €350.64 million in programme year 4 (September 2025 – August 2026), before additional funding ring-fenced to support the outcomes of further Employment Regulation Order (EROs) agreed by an independent Joint Labour Committees (JLC) is included. The cost of increasing this allocation by 10% would be €35.064 m.
The current proposed additional funding to support the outcomes of the JLC process is worth €45 million in year 4. Increasing this additional element of the funding by 10% would cost €4.5 million.
387. Deputy Colm Brophy asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated cost of increasing the childminding development grant by 10%; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45864/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Childminding Development Grants were introduced in 2004 as part of the Childminding Initiatives, administered through the City and County Childcare Committees. The grant is designed to help childminders with the cost of safety items, equipment, play resources or minor household alterations.
Until 2023, a grant of up to €1,000 was available to cover 90% of the expenditure over two years and was paid in arrears on presentation of an expenditure report and receipts. The national funding allocation was €250,000.
In 2023, through the work being undertaken under the National Action Plan for Childminding 2021 – 2028, changes were made to the grant process. The changes to the grant were to allow for a 100% grant, available on an annual basis, with 75% of the grant paid in advance of expenditure. In addition, for the 2024 grant cycle the Childminding Development Grant funding allocation was doubled to €500,000, to assist more childminders to prepare for the opening of regulations to childminders from September 2024. The maximum grant per childminder is €1,000 per year.
The cost of increasing the total financial allocation for the grant scheme by 10% would be €50,000. Alternatively, if the allocation for 2025 were kept at €500,000, an increase in the maximum value of each grant of 10% would reduce the number of applications that could be accommodated within the annual allocation from 500 grants to 454 per year.
388. Deputy Colm Brophy asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated cost of providing 100 student placements in children’s disability services. [45865/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
389. Deputy Colm Brophy asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated cost of providing 100 therapy assistant grades through FETAC programmes. [45866/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis is a matter for my cabinet colleague, the Minister for Further and Higher Education.
390. Deputy Colm Brophy asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated cost of providing 100 places on the sponsorship scheme for nurses who wish to become public health nurses. [45867/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis is a matter for my cabinet colleague, the Minister for Health.
391. Deputy Colm Brophy asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated cost of providing 100 respite places for adults. [45943/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly.
392. Deputy Colm Brophy asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated cost of providing 100 respite places for children. [45944/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly.
393. Deputy Colm Brophy asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated cost of increasing funding to alternative respite services by 10%. [45945/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly.
394. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the current breakdown of staff in place, by grade code as of 1 November 2024, in each County Donegal CDNT area, Donegal east, Donegal south west, Donegal north and Donegal Inishowen. [45982/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
395. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will ensure that more services are provided in Cavan and Monaghan to support children and adults with disabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45971/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
396. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if additional support will be provided in 2025 for youth services throughout the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45972/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraArising from Budget 2025, €84.9m will be allocated for current and capital expenditure for the benefit of young people, an increase in funding of €7 million, or almost 9%, on the 2024 budget. Over the period from 2021 to 2025, the level of current Exchequer funding for youth services and programmes will have increased by over 34%.
The additional funding secured in Budget 2025 will support the sustainability of youth organisations, whilst also expanding youth work service capacity through the funding of new targeted youth services.
Funding secured in Budget 2025, will support the implementation of Opportunities for Youth: The National Strategy for Youth Work and Related Services 2024-2028. This strategy includes a clear set of strategic objectives and 18 priority actions intended to strengthen the role of youth work and related services in the lives of young people in Ireland.
Funding will also support the UBU Your Place Your Space funding scheme which targets disadvantaged young people with evidence informed interventions. I have secured new funding which will provide for the establishment of a further 10 new UBU youth services and these new services will provide targeted youth worker-led support to up to 1,000 disadvantaged young people where they are most needed.
Funding through the Youth Services Grant Scheme which supports national youth organisations in delivering quality youth services across the State will also be increased in 2025 for the specific purpose of expanding the scheme to include additional national youth organisations across 2024 and 2025.
Additional funding of €650,000 has been allocated in 2024 to the Volunteer Activation Fund, which will continue into 2025, providing additional support to national youth organisations in recruiting, retaining and supporting volunteers.
Importantly, funding will also be made available for the LGBTI+ Youth Fund, which will support initiatives that ensure that LGBTI+ young people are visible, included, and treated equally in their communities, fully aligning with our Opportunities for Youth Strategy.
In addition, a new pilot initiative will be implemented in 2025 as part of the Government’s commitment to tackling Holiday Hunger. This initiative will help feed up to 1,000 young people aged 10 to 18 years, who are at risk of not having access to a hot meal or any substantial meal during the official school closure times.
I remain committed to continuing the roll-out of the Targeted Youth Employability Support Initiative which was launched in 2024 to engage and support harder to reach young people aged 15-24 who are not in employment, education or training. This initiative will receive €1m in funding for 2025.
In addition, capital funding of €1 million will be available for the benefit of children and young people in 2025, with €500,000 specifically earmarked for upgrading play and recreation facilities.
397. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in view of the widespread concern expressed by childcare providers about the viability of their services, if he will review the funding level for such providers, particularly for services providing full-time places for younger children, for which there is huge demand and an inadequate supply at present, taking into account that more services will be lost imminently; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45973/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe introduction of Core Funding in 2022 brought a significant increase in investment for the sector, with €259 million of funding paid directly to services in year 1 of the scheme, of which €210.8 million was entirely new funding.
One of the key objectives of Core Funding is to support the sector as a whole with the introduction of direct supply-side funding, in addition to the ECCE programme and the NCS, to create a more stable and sustainable financial environment.
This funding, which increased by 11% (to €287 million) in year 2, increased again by another 15% in year 3 (to €331 million).
This funding facilitated the following changes from September:
The Base Rates for all age groups increased with larger increases in funding for places offered to children under the age of three. In short, all providers currently signed up to Core Funding will receive a higher payment going forward to support their day-to-day costs.
The flat rate for services registered on the Tusla Early Years Register as sessional-only (a pre-school service offering a programme for a total of not more than 3.5 hours per session) is increasing from €4,075 to €5,000. This will strengthen supports to sessional-only services, who typically operate for shorter hours per week and fewer weeks per year.
The minimum Base Rate allocation increased from €8,150 to €14,000. This is the minimum amount of funding a centre-based service (not childminders) will receive through their Base Rate and ensures a minimum guaranteed income for services.
Additionally, there has been changes in the Fee Management conditions of the scheme.
Up to now, services availing of Core Funding have not been allowed to raise their fees above what was charged to parents on 30 September 2021 (or at the point of first signing up for Core Funding if the service did not exist on 30 September 2021).
The fee freeze will remain in place for the majority of these services for year 3 of Core Funding, though services whose fees have been frozen at a level that may not be sufficient to sustain their business even with increased funding available through Core Funding, will have the opportunity to apply for a Fee Increase Assessment.
Only services currently charging low fees (fees below the average in their county) will be eligible to apply and the onus will be on the provider to demonstrate a need for a fee increase.
Core Funding is set to rise to a minimum of €350.64 million in programme year 4 (September 2025 – August 2026), before additional funding to support the outcomes of further Employment Regulation Order (EROs) agreed by an independent Joint Labour Committee (JLC) is considered.
This additional funding to support the outcomes of the JLC process is worth €45 million in year 4.
Further increases to Core Funding beyond year 4 (September 2025-August 2026) will be considered in the context of the estimates process.
The Together for Better Website contains a link to all current partner services. The website also contains a link to all programme year 1 (2022/2023) 22/23 Partner Services individual allocations.
Every year it is normal for some early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) services to close while other new services open. Reasons for closures vary and services can provide a number of reasons for closure.
As of September 2024, 302 new ELC and standalone SAC services have opened with 112 ELC and standalone SAC services closing. Meaning there is a net increase of 190 services to date in 2024.
In 2023 there was a total of 296 services new ELC and standalone SAC services opened, with 167 services closing. Meaning there was a net increase of 113 services in 2023.
In addition to the increased level of Core Funding for year 3 of the scheme and fee management developments, there are wider financial supports available from the Department where a service is experiencing financial difficulty or has concerns about their viability, which can be accessed while remaining within Core Funding.
If any service has viability concerns, I encourage them to reach out to their local City/County Childcare Committee (CCC) to start availing of supports through the aforementioned case management process.
398. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will ensure that the core funding model for each county will be amended to take into account recent additional costs on such services impacting on their viability with potential closures and subsequent loss of childcare places; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45974/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe introduction of Core Funding in 2022 brought a significant increase in investment for the sector, with €259 million of funding paid directly to services in year 1 of the scheme, of which €210.8 million was entirely new funding.
One of the key objectives of Core Funding is to support the sector as a whole with the introduction of direct supply-side funding, in addition to the ECCE programme and the NCS, to create a more stable and sustainable financial environment.
Core Funding is a grant to Early Learning and Care (ELC) and/or School Age Childcare (SAC) providers towards their operating costs. The majority of Core Funding is distributed based on a service's capacity - the opening hours, opening weeks and the age group of children for whom services are provided as well as number of places available.
It is designed to deliver:
Affordability for parents through Fee Management and offering NCS and ECCE to all eligible children;
Quality in services, including through better terms and conditions for staff and supporting graduate leadership in services; and
Sustainability for providers through substantially increased funding to the sector, paid on a consistent and equitable basis.
This funding, which increased by 11% (to €287 million) in year 2, increased again by another 15% in year 3 (to €331 million).
This funding facilitated the following changes from September:
The Base Rates for all age groups increased with larger increases in funding for places offered to children under the age of three. In short, all providers currently signed up to Core Funding will receive a higher payment going forward to support their day-to-day costs.
The flat rate for services registered on the Tusla Early Years Register as sessional-only (a pre-school service offering a programme for a total of not more than 3.5 hours per session) is increasing from €4,075 to €5,000. This will strengthen supports to sessional-only services, who typically operate for shorter hours per week and fewer weeks per year.
The minimum Base Rate allocation increased from €8,150 to €14,000. This is the minimum amount of funding a centre-based service (not childminders) will receive through their Base Rate and ensures a minimum guaranteed income for services.
Additionally, there has been changes in the Fee Management conditions of the scheme.
Up to now, services availing of Core Funding have not been allowed to raise their fees above what was charged to parents on 30 September 2021 (or at the point of first signing up for Core Funding if the service did not exist on 30 September 2021).
The fee freeze will remain in place for the majority of these services for year 3 of Core Funding, though services whose fees have been frozen at a level that may not be sufficient to sustain their business even with increased funding available through Core Funding, will have the opportunity to apply for a Fee Increase Assessment.
Only services currently charging low fees (fees below the average in their county) will be eligible to apply and the onus will be on the provider to demonstrate a need for a fee increase.
In addition to the increased level of Core Funding for year 3 of the scheme and fee management developments, there are wider financial supports available from the Department where a service is experiencing financial difficulty or has concerns about their viability, which can be accessed while remaining within Core Funding.
Currently, 91% of services have signed up to year 3 of Core Funding. The application rate for year 3 of Core Funding is similar to the application rate for the same period in 2023, with services continuing to sign up. Providers can sign up to the scheme at any time over the course of the programme year.
Every year it is normal for some ELC and SAC services to close while other new services open. As of September 2024, 302 new ELC and standalone SAC services have opened with 112 ELC and standalone SAC services closing. Meaning there is a net increase of 190 services to date in 2024.
In 2023, there was a total of 296 new ELC and standalone SAC services, with 167 services closing. Meaning there was a net increase of 113 services in 2023.
Core Funding is set to rise to a minimum of €350.64 million in programme year 4 (September 2025 – August 2026), before additional funding to support the outcomes of further Employment Regulation Order (EROs) agreed by an independent Joint Labour Committee (JLC) is considered.
This additional funding to support the outcomes of the JLC process is worth €45 million in year 4.
399. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if urgent consideration will be given to addressing the shortage of childcare places, particularly for younger children and pre-ECCE recipients, in view of the widespread concern of parents who may wish to return to work and are unable to do so because of the lack of such places; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45975/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraImproving access to quality and affordable early learning and childcare is a key priority of Government.
Data available to my Department demonstrates that, overall, early learning and childcare provision is expanding in terms of number of services opening, the number of places and hours of provision that services are offering, the numbers of staff employed and the numbers of parents supported through various schemes and initiatives.
• Data from the Early Years Sector Profile Survey shows that, between 2021/22 and 2022/23, the estimated number of enrolments in services rose by 8% from 197,210 to 213,154.
• Core Funding application data shows that between Year 1 (from September 2022-August 2023) and Year 2 (from September 2023-August 2024) of the scheme, annual place hours increased by 7.4%.
• Data from Tusla on service closures and new service registrations shows a net increase of 129 in the overall number of services in 2023 and a five-year low in the number of net ELC services closures – with pre-school service closures falling by 18% in the first year of Core Funding.
• Data from the Early Years Sector Profile Survey showing that, between 2021/22 and 2022/23, the estimated number of staff in the early learning and childcare workforce rose by 8% from 34,357 to 37,060.
• Data from the National Childcare Scheme showing that since 2022, there has been a 22 per cent increase in the number of providers offering the Scheme, a 100 per cent increase in the numbers of children benefitting from the Scheme and a 52 per cent increase in the number of sponsored children.
Notwithstanding the significant increase in provision, there is also evidence of some parents having difficulty in finding the type of provision that they would like for their children, particularly younger children. This is likely at least partly driven by the major progress that has been achieved in relation to affordability of provision over recent years with the introduction and extension of the National Childcare Scheme subsidies and the establishment of the fee freeze through Core Funding.
At the same time, there are also instances of underutilisation of capacity with some services reporting vacant places and others not operating to the maximum of their Tusla capacity.
This year, I established a Supply Management Unit within the Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare Division of my Department. A key part of the Supply Management Unit’s remit is to develop capacity for monitoring, analysing and forecasting of supply and demand in the sector.
The development of a forward planning model is currently underway utilising the expertise of statisticians on secondment from the Central Statistics Office and an early learning and childcare expert from a County Childcare Committee working with the Department and a GIS mapper. The model will seek to identify the nature and volume of different types of early learning and childcare places across the country, whether or not those places are occupied and how that aligns with the numbers of children in the corresponding age cohorts at local area level.
In addition to developing this forward planning model, the Supply Management Unit oversees the administration of capital investment under the revised NDP. Some €89 million has been allocated to my Department between 2023 and 2026 for capital funding.
The primary focus of the Building Blocks Capacity Grant Schemes is to increase capacity in the 1-3 year old, pre-ECCE, age range for full day care. I recently announced the launch of the €25m Building Blocks Extension Grant scheme for early learning and childcare providers. The Building Blocks Extension Scheme will deliver additional capacity by supporting existing early learning and childcare Core Funding partner services to extend their premises. It will also allow community services to purchase or construct new premises.
All projects will be required to deliver net increases in full-time places for one to three-year-olds. The application process will open in November 2024, with funding to be available from 2025. I anticipate that this scheme will deliver thousands of new full time places for 1-3 year olds.
More widely, the overall funding model is designed to support quality provision across the full age range for ELC. In particular, Core Funding was intentionally designed to address some of the pre-existing disparities in funding levels across ECCE and non-ECCE provision. Higher levels of funding are available for capacity for younger children, to support the higher operating costs for these children arising from the higher staff ratio requirements. In addition, Core Funding includes a graduate premium to support employment of graduates with a relevant degree at level 7 or above into leadership roles. This aspect of Core Funding encourages employment of graduates as Lead Educators across all ELC.
400. Deputy Johnny Mythen asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will provide an update for a claim by a person (details supplied). [45984/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraWhile I try to be helpful at all times in the parliamentary process, the Deputy will be aware that I cannot be involved in individual cases and cannot comment on same.
The legislation underpinning the Payment Scheme - the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Act 2023 - specifically provides for the explicit independence of the Chief Deciding Officer in administering the application process and making decisions on applications. Therefore, it would be inappropriate for me to engage in the process in relation to the status of individual applications.
All information on the Scheme, and the application process, can be found at the dedicated Payment Scheme website - gov.ie/paymentscheme. Resources include an information booklet, questions and answers, and short 'how to' videos on the straightforward application process. A Helpline is also available at +353 1 522 9992. Applicants will be supported throughout the application process with information and advice as and when they may need it.
In addition to all these applicant supports, public representatives can contact the Payment Scheme Office via a dedicated email address paymentschemereps@equality.gov.ie if they are assisting constituents in relation to the Scheme.
In this case, I suggest that the applicant in question contacts the helpline directly and I am sure she will be assisted appropriately.
