Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 March 2025
417. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth her plans to encourage more childcare providers to engage with CORE funding; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13062/25]
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.
This funding increased by 11% (to €287 million) in year 2 and by a further 15% in year 3 (to €331 million). This facilitated the following changes from 2 September 2024, which built on the targeted measures that were introduced in the second year of the scheme to support smaller and sessional only services:
• The base rates for all age groups increased with larger increases in funding for places offered to children under the age of three.
• 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) increased from €4,075 to €5,000. This strengthens 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) has received through their base rate and ensures a minimum guaranteed income for services. This increase supports smaller services and services operating in rural areas, who may be prone to fluctuations in demand.
• The maximum base rate allocation has decreased from €600,000 to €500,000. Services will not receive funding through the base rate beyond this maximum value. Any service receiving more than this maximum value will see their base rate funding reduce to this level.
Moreover, as part of the progressive development of the fee management system under Core Funding, the Department introduced new developments to fee management in year 3 of Core Funding.
While the fee freeze remains in place for a majority of services for year 3 of the scheme, in light of concerns about the fee freeze raised by some providers charging low fees, a fee increase assessment process was introduced, whereby services with fees below the average in their county could apply to increase their fees up to an approved level by the Department.
In addition to the fee increase assessment process, a fee cap was also introduced for services joining Core Funding for the first time - creating a maximum price that can be charged for early learning and childcare, thereby bringing the highest fees charged down. This fee cap will be extended to all services from September 2025.
Core Funding is a successful scheme with a high uptake rate among providers. Currently 93% or more than 4,400, providers having signed up for Core Funding in year 3.
Further increases for year four of the Scheme, announced in Budget 2025, will see the total allocation increase to over €390 million.
In addition to this, there are wider financial supports available from my Department where a service is experiencing financial difficulty or has concerns about their viability, which can be accessed while remaining within Core Funding.
