Written Answers Nos. 498-516
498. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for a breakdown of derogation farms by farm size and number of dairy cows, as per tables (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53942/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe following data is based on the 6,824 remaining applicants for the 2024 Nitrates Derogation when those who withdrew their applications and those deemed ineligible arising from my Department's checks are excluded. Please note checks have not fully concluded regarding the 2024 Nitrates Derogation so this data is subject to change.
Table 1 below provides a breakdown of 2024 derogation farms by farm size. Table 2 shows the 2024 derogation farms with dairy cows broken-down by the average number of dairy cows held on each of those farms across the year 2024.
The total number of farmers covered by Table 1 is greater than the number covered by Table 2 as not all derogation applicants are dairy farmers.
Table 1 breakdown of 2024 derogation farms by farm size (hectares, Ha)
|
Farm Size |
Number of Farmers |
|
<10 Ha |
50 |
|
11 – 20 Ha |
141 |
|
21 – 30 Ha |
341 |
|
31 – 40 Ha |
648 |
|
41 – 60 Ha |
1628 |
|
61 – 80 Ha |
1434 |
|
80 Ha + |
2582 |
Table 2 breakdown of 2024 derogation farms with dairy cows
|
Number of Dairy Cows |
Number of Farmers |
|
< 20 Cows |
90 |
|
21 – 40 Cows |
201 |
|
41 – 60 Cows |
593 |
|
61 – 80 Cows |
868 |
|
81 – 100 Cows |
985 |
|
101 – 130 Cows |
1218 |
|
131 – 150 Cows |
569 |
|
151 – 200 Cows |
807 |
|
201 – 300 Cows |
597 |
|
300 Cows + |
321 |
499. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the total number of children supported by income-assessed childcare subsidies, by county, in 2025; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52927/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra500. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the average payment under income-assessed childcare in 2025. [52929/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 499 and 500 together.
The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides financial support to help parents reduce the cost of early learning and childcare.
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. This subsidy can be as much as €5.10 per hour, also for up to 45 weekly hours.
The average hourly subsidy awarded for the NCS income assessed subsidy is €3.41.
For your information, please see the below table which details the number of children availing of the income assessed award, the average weekly claim, and the average hourly subsidy awarded to date (30/9) in 2025. Please note that the sum of the children in each education stage does not add to the total number of children because children may have claims of more than one education stage in the calendar year.
|
Education Stage |
Number of unique children |
Average weekly claim |
Average hourly subsidy awarded |
|
Pre-ECCE |
22,304 |
€117.29 |
€3.71 |
|
ECCE |
26,509 |
€77.93 |
€3.41 |
|
Early Start |
1,648 |
€74.75 |
€3.50 |
|
Junior/Senior Infants |
18,980 |
€59.73 |
€3.24 |
|
1st to 6th Class |
25,179 |
€53.75 |
€3.25 |
|
Post-Primary |
277 |
€80.44 |
€3.36 |
|
Total |
77,821 |
€78.17 |
€3.41 |
Also for your information, please see the below table which details the total number of unique children supported by the income assessed subsidy, by county, to date (30/9) in 2025. Similarly, the sum of the children in each county does not add to the total number of children because children may have claims in more than one county in the calendar year.
|
Education Stage |
Number of unique children |
Average weekly claim |
Average hourly subsidy awarded |
|
Pre-ECCE |
22,304 |
€117.29 |
€3.71 |
|
ECCE |
26,509 |
€77.93 |
€3.41 |
|
Early Start |
1,648 |
€74.75 |
€3.50 |
|
Junior/Senior Infants |
18,980 |
€59.73 |
€3.24 |
|
1st to 6th Class |
25,179 |
€53.75 |
€3.25 |
|
Post-Primary |
277 |
€80.44 |
€3.36 |
|
Total |
77,821 |
€78.17 |
€3.41 |
501. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of pre-school places operating in the years 2020 to date in 2025, according to size such as <25, 25-49, 50-74, 75-99 and 100+. [52930/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraData on Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare service providers is captured through administrative data on the Early Years Platform (EYP). The below table provides a summary of the number of service providers by size based on the number of children registered in the service for any Department funded programme (ECCE, NCS and CCSP)*. The data are captured at 1 June for each of the years 2020-2025.
No. of Service Providers by size as of 1 June for each year.
|
- |
Year |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Size |
2020** |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
|
<25 |
Not Available |
1973 |
1894 |
1605 |
1511 |
1494 |
|
25-49 |
Not Available |
1357 |
1358 |
1345 |
1406 |
1388 |
|
50-74 |
Not Available |
570 |
602 |
722 |
738 |
862 |
|
75-99 |
Not Available |
272 |
304 |
425 |
501 |
511 |
|
100+ |
Not Available |
156 |
188 |
357 |
438 |
542 |
|
Total |
Not Available |
4328 |
4346 |
4454 |
4594 |
4897 |
* The Department funded programmes listed are the Early Childhood Care and Education Programme (ECCE), the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) and the Community Childcare Subvention Plus (CCSP)
**Data not available due to the impact of Covid-19
While the above administrative data is provided from the EYP, the Early Learning and Childcare data website provides an overview of publicly available data on the sector. The ‘Service providers overview’ section of the website provides information on the number of services registered for Department funded programmes, service location, organisation type which can be explored using the accompanying filter (including size).
502. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the status of a dedicated state agency for early learning and childcare, which would undertake functions currently carried out by Pobal Early Years, the 30 City and County Childcare Committees as well as operational functions currently undertaken by her Department. [52976/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn March 2022 Government accepted the findings of the independent Review of the Early Learning and Childcare Operating Model in Ireland that a dedicated state agency is the optimal operating model for the early learning and childcare sector for the years ahead. It is envisaged that this agency will undertake the functions currently carried out by Pobal Early Years (including Better Start), the City/County Childcare Committees, as well as operational functions currently undertaken by the DCDE.
Significant progress has been made in advancing the programme of work for the planning and design of the agency. The Department has commenced a phase of analysis, planning, and consultation, and is committed to ongoing and extensive engagement with sectoral stakeholders throughout the programme of reform. This phase of work comprises a detailed design of a new agency and a evidence-based cost projection for the establishment and annual operational costs of a new agency. The Department continues to engage with independent consultants Indecon who have been contracted to undertake the initial phase of research and analysis to inform the design of the agency.
Initial consultation events regarding the vision, mission and values of the agency with a wide range of stakeholders have taken place. A report has been compiled from these initial consultations and the report has been circulated to the participating stakeholders and uploaded to the dedicated agency web page.
Consultation events also took place in May/June 2024 with the focus on function mapping across the current operating model. A further consultation session also took place in October 2024 regarding the mapping of the workforce across the current operating model. During these consultation events Indecon provided updates on the progress and timelines for the completion of the work on the planning and design of the agency.
It is anticipated that this phase will be concluded in late 2025 with the production of a consolidated report on the design of the agency. A detailed costing exercise is also underway and is scheduled to conclude in late 2025 also. The work will culminate in a costed agency design, including the remit, organisational structure and service delivery model, which will be presented to Government for approval.
503. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of early years and crèche services that have been withdrawn from the core funding scheme in each of the past five years, by county; and the specific measures her Department is taking to prevent further withdrawals and protect parents from fee increases. [52979/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraCore Funding began in September 2022 and therefore figures are only available for the past three years.
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 or 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 5 August 2025, there were 4,807 services listed as being open on the Early Years Platform, of which 141 (3%) had left Core Funding at one point over the past 3 years and continue to operate outside of this scheme. A further 336 services (7%) had left Core Funding at one point over the past 3 years but later rejoined and are currently signed up to the third year of the scheme. The overwhelming majority of services, 4,056 or 84%, have continued to participate in Core Funding from the date on which they first signed up for the scheme.
The fourth year of Core Funding began on 1 September 2025 and as of 2 October, 4,424 services have signed up to the fourth year of Core Funding, an uptake rate of 91%. This is more than 200 additional services signed up than at this point in time last year. Every year there are a number of services who sign up to Core Funding in the weeks following the commencement of the programme year. Officials in the Department will be working to update these figures, reflecting an accurate assessment regarding participation in the fourth year of the scheme.
The tables below provide a breakdown of the services that left Core Funding in each programme year by county division, divided into services that left a programme year and were participating in the scheme as of 5 August 2025 and services that left a programme year and were not participating as of 5 August 2025. 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.
|
County division |
Left Year 1 (2022/2023) - participating on 5 August 2025 |
Left Year 1 (2022/2023) - not participating on 5 August 2025 |
Left Year 2 (2023/2024) - participating on 5 August 2025 |
Left Year 2 (2023/2024) - not participating on 5 August 2025 |
Left Year 3 (2024/2025) – participating on 5 August 2025 |
Left Year 3 (2024/2025) - not participating on 5 August 2025 |
|
County Cork |
12 |
1 |
10 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
|
County Clare |
5 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
|
County Cavan |
3 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
County Carlow |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Cork City |
2 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
|
County Donegal |
12 |
1 |
8 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown |
6 |
3 |
2 |
10 |
1 |
0 |
|
South Dublin |
6 |
4 |
12 |
7 |
0 |
1 |
|
Dublin City |
13 |
2 |
35 |
21 |
2 |
4 |
|
Fingal |
6 |
2 |
14 |
15 |
1 |
0 |
|
County Galway |
22 |
3 |
16 |
16 |
0 |
0 |
|
County Kildare |
10 |
1 |
7 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
|
County Kilkenny |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
County Kerry |
4 |
0 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
|
County Longford |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
County Louth |
5 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
County Limerick |
5 |
0 |
8 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
County Leitrim |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
County Laois |
4 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
|
County Meath |
4 |
0 |
9 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
|
County Monaghan |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
|
County Mayo |
5 |
3 |
9 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
|
County Offaly |
7 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
County Roscommon |
1 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
County Sligo |
0 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
|
County Tipperary |
10 |
1 |
11 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
|
County Waterford |
6 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
County Westmeath |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
County Wicklow |
3 |
1 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
County Wexford |
3 |
1 |
8 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
|
TOTAL |
159 |
24 |
187 |
116 |
10 |
9 |
I am aware that between 5 and 31 August 2025, two additional services reached the end of their notice period and withdrew from Core Funding Year 3 – one in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown and one in Kildare.
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 year 1 to over €390 million in year 4). This represents an increase of over 50% in Core Funding in three years.
The 2025/2026 allocation represents an increase of over €60 million (over 18%) on the previous programme year, which will facilitate:
• Support for providers in meeting the costs of increases in minimum pay rates as a result of newly negotiated Employment Regulation Orders by the independent Joint Labour Committee;
• Increased funding for early learning and care capacity offered to ensure Partner Services can keep pace with rising costs without needing to increase fees charged to parents;
• An increase to the minimum amount of funding a centre-based service will receive, increasing to €14,400 per year from the current level of €14,000;
• A reduction in the maximum allocation for a service’s capacity to €450,000 to best spread a limited budget across the entire sector; and
• Funding to support capacity growth of 3.5% across the sector.
In addition to this increased allocation, being in Core Funding unlocks additional supports for services to access, including:
• access to wider financial supports where a service is experiencing financial difficulty or has concerns about their viability;
• access to enhanced support for services caring for concentrated numbers of children facing disadvantage through Equal Start; and
• opportunities to apply for capital grants through the Department.
Moreover, 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. Among these objectives is ensuring taxpayers’ money is being used in a way that sustains services while not unreasonably increasing their private profit.
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.
Core Funding remains open, and these withdrawn services may reapply during the year and as can be seen above more services have returned than have not returned.
The Department is always exploring the potential for further changes to enhance Core Funding. Any changes for Year 5 – starting in September 2026 – would be based on the operation of year 4 of the Scheme starting last month as well as stakeholder input. The Department will continue to engage with the sector and continue to develop the scheme so that it can continue to see the high uptake levels it has seen this year, and indeed since it was launched in 2022.
504. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of early years and crèche facilities operating in Cork city and county in each of the past ten years; the net change in services over that period; and the actions being taken to address the decline in provision in Cork compared with the reported national increase. [52980/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn line with the requirements of the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations, 2016, the Child Care Act, 1991 (Early Year Services) (Registration of School Age Services) Regulations 2018 and the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) (Childminding Services) Regulations 2024, those wishing to operate an early years service (whether a preschool, school age or childminding service) are required to register with Tusla.
All data collected by Tusla, including information relating to registrations is collated and verified on a rolling basis. It must be noted that, Childminding Services Regulations only came into effect in September 2024 with a statutory transition period of three years ending in September 2027. As such, registration is not mandatory until the end of this transition period.
On this basis, the requested data is available below showing a breakdown of the number of registered services by service type in County Cork, for the period December 2016 – December 2024, with an additional column detailing the year-on-year variance in respect of the number of services registered. As the register was only established in 2016 it is not possible to provide data on services for 2015. It is also not possible to provide a disaggregated breakdown of services registered within the City and County as all data in respect of early years service registrations is collated on a county by county basis only.
|
Year |
Total Early Years Services in Cork (Pre-school, Standalone School Age and Childminding) |
Net difference Year on Year |
|
2016 |
478 |
|
|
2017 |
479 |
+1 |
|
2018 |
472 |
-7 |
|
2019 |
518* |
+46 |
|
2020 |
516 |
-2 |
|
2021 |
522 |
+6 |
|
2022 |
531 |
+9 |
|
2023 |
544 |
+13 |
|
2024 |
585 |
+41 |
* In 2019, Tusla began registering School aged services under the 2018 School age regulations. Registration data for 2019 did not disaggregate standalone school age services from pre-school services that also operated a school-age service. The data for 2019 is therefore not directly comparable with the later years as the data since 2020 allows disaggregation to avoid double counting of services that provide both pre-school and school-age childcare.
Improving 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 2023/24 shows that the estimated number of enrolments increased by approximately 19% from the 2021/22 programme year. Core Funding application data shows that between Year 1 and Year 3 of the scheme, annual place hours increased by over 15%. 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.
A Forward Planning and Delivery Unit in this Department is pursuing an ambitious programme of work. The unit is developing a forward planning model which will be central to the Department's plans to achieve the policy goals set out in the Programme for Government to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early childhood education and care system, with State-led facilities adding capacity.
This 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. For the previous programme year, the allocation for Core Funding allowed for a 6% increase in capacity. Additional funding was secured in Budget 2025 to facilitate a further 3.5% increase from September 2025.
The Government is also supporting the expansion of capacity through capital funding. The Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme is designed to increase capacity. Core Funding Partner services could apply for capital funding to physically extend their premises or to construct or purchase new premises.
This scheme provides €25 million to expand full-day care places for 1 to 3-year-olds. It is expected that up to 1,500 places will be delivered by these projects. Of this number, almost 100 community places will be delivered in Cork.
The Programme for Government commits for the first time to provide capital investment to build or purchase state-owned early learning and childcare facilities, to create additional capacity in areas where unmet need exists. State ownership of facilities is a very substantial and significant development and offers the potential for much greater scope to influence the nature and volume of provision available and to ensure better alignment with estimated demand. This work will be supported through capital investment under the revised National Development Plan.
The approach more widely to ensuring appropriate levels of early learning and childcare supply is being considered by my Department and will be further articulated in the context of the Action Plan to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early childhood education and care system that Government has committed to publishing.
505. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will publish detailed, disaggregated data showing the number of childcare providers entering and leaving the sector nationally and by county each year since 2015, including whether those providers were part of the core funding scheme. [52981/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn line with the requirements of the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations, 2016, the Child Care Act, 1991 (Early Year Services) (Registration of School Age Services) Regulations, 2018 and the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) (Childminding Services) Regulations 2024, those wishing to operate an early years services (whether a preschool, school age or childminding service) are required to register with Tusla. Each year a number of early years services decide to close of their own volition. Where these services close, they are also required, in line with these statutory provisions, to notify Tusla of their planned closure.
Data collected by Tusla, including information relating to new registrations and reported cessations, is collated and verified on county-by-county basis.
On this basis, the requested data, which encompasses new registrations and reported cessations of early years services per county for the period December 2016-December 2024, with the annualised net change in the number of registered services, have been set out at the link below. As the pre-school register was only established in 2016, is it not possible to provide data on 2015. Data on school-age services likewise is included since 2019. For childminding, while some childminders were registered prior to 2024, Childminding-specific Regulations have only been in place since September 2024.
Registration data for 2019 did not disaggregate standalone school age services from pre-school services that also operated a school-age service. The data for 2019 is therefore not directly comparable with the later years as the data since 2020 allows disaggregation to avoid double counting of services that provide both pre-school and school-age childcare.
It was not feasible, in the time allotted for responding to the Deputy’s question, for officials to disaggregate services that left Core Funding, from providers who left the childcare sector.
However, the Department did undertake an exercise (on 5 August 2025) assessing the levels of withdrawals from Core Funding – since its inception in September 2022.
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 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.
• 183 services had left the 2022/2023 programme year of Core Funding (Year 1), of which 159 have since rejoined the scheme and were participating in Core Funding on 5 August 2025. The other 24 open services who left in the first year of the scheme were not participating on 5 August 2025.
• 303 services had left the 2023/2024 programme year of Core Funding (Year 2), of which 187 have since rejoined the scheme and were participating in Core Funding on 5 August 2025. The other 116 open services who left in the second year of the scheme were not participating on 5 August 2025.
• 19 services had left the 2024/2025 programme year of Core Funding (Year 3), of which 10 had rejoined the scheme and were participating in Core Funding on 5 August 2025. The other 9 open services who left in the third year of the scheme were not participating on 5 August 2025.
• I am aware that between 5 and 31 August 2025, two additional services reached the end of their notice period and withdrew from Core Funding – one in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown and one in Kildare.
In the same exercise, the programme year in which a service first joined Core Funding was assessed.
• 3,964 services that were operating on 5 August 2025 (82%) had joined Core Funding in the first year of the scheme (2022/2023).
• 261 services that were operating on 5 August 2025 (5%) had first joined Core Funding in the second year of the scheme (2023/2024).
• 310 services that were operating on 5 August 2025 (6%) had first joined Core Funding in the third year of the scheme (2024/2025).
• 272 services that were operating on 5 August 2025 (6%) had not joined Core Funding in any of the first three years of the scheme.
506. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the steps her Department is taking to prevent excessive childcare fee increases, including whether consideration has been given to introducing statutory fee caps or a link between the core funding scheme and maximum allowable fee levels. [52982/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraPromoting affordability in early learning and care and school-age childcare is a key priority of the Department. In January, the Programme for Government committed to reducing the cost of childcare to €200 per month within the lifetime of the Government. A number of existing Schemes will play a role in realising this goal, including Core Funding.
Core Funding, which is now in its fourth year, was introduced in September 2022, and is designed to improve the affordability, quality and sustainability of childcare in Ireland.
The Core Funding fee management system was introduced with the launch of the scheme, on foot of the recommendations of the Expert Group’s Partnership for the Public Good report, which was accepted by all of Government in December 2021.
The first step of this process was to limit increases in fee rates, with all services contracting to the Scheme required to freeze their fees at September 2021 levels. As part of the progressive development of the Core Funding fee management system, the Department introduced new fee management measures in year 3, including a cap on the highest fees for services joining the Scheme for the first time.
With these changes in year 3, it was also made clear in public communications and the Core Funding contract that maximum fee caps would apply to all Partner Services from the beginning of year 4 in September 2025.
In June, I published the details of these maximum fee caps for year 4. These new maximum fee caps will apply to all Partner Services and place a limit on the fees that can be charged across all types of provision. This will reduce costs for families who are facing the highest fees across the country. The fee freeze will remain in place for the majority of Partner Services with fees that fall below these caps.
Under these new fee caps, the maximum fee for a full day place – of between 40-50 hours per week, the most common full day care operating hours – can be no more than €295 per week (before State subsidies under the National Childcare Scheme and the ECCE programme are deducted), and the maximum fee for 50+ hours of care can be no more than €354.
|
Fee Band |
Hours per week purchased under fee option |
Maximum allowable fee for Partner Services |
|
A |
Less than 10 hours |
€59 |
|
B |
Between 10 hours and 19 hours 59 minutes |
€118 |
|
C |
Between 20 hours and 29 hours 59 minutes |
€177 |
|
D |
Between 30 hours and 39 hours 59 minutes |
€236 |
|
E |
Between 40 hours and 49 hours 59 minutes |
€295 |
|
F |
50 hours or more |
€354 |
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. This allocation has since risen to over €390 million in year 4, which is inclusive of €45 million in State funding to support services to meet costs of increased minimum rates of pay in the sector. The allocation of this funding to the sector is conditional on new Employment Regulation Orders being in place.
Minister of State for Employment, Small Business and Retail Alan Dillon has confirmed he intends to sign a new Employment Order for Early Years Educators and School-Age Practitioners. The Order will revoke the 2024 Order currently in operation for the sector and will commence on 13th October 2025.
Adherence to the Core Funding fee management system is a primary condition of receiving the significant State funding that is available through the scheme. The fee management system requires compliance with a fee freeze and the maximum fee caps.
Core Funding has enjoyed high engagement from the sector to date, with 91.1% of eligible services having signed up to programme year 2025/2026 as of 6th October. The progressive development of the Core Funding fee management system will continue in future programme years as the Department works toward meeting the Government’s goal of reducing childcare costs down to €200 per month.
507. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the locations where State-led childcare facilities are currently being planned or developed, including projected capacity, opening dates, costs, and the criteria used for site selection. [52983/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Programme for Government commits for the first time to provision of early learning and childcare through State-led facilities adding capacity in areas where unmet need exists.
State ownership of facilities is a very substantial and significant development and offers the potential to influence the nature and volume of provision available and to ensure better alignment with estimated demand.
Early scoping work has been carried out to explore options to introduce a segment of State-led provision. More detailed and extensive policy development and design is ongoing in order to progress to implementation stage, having regard to the wider emerging policy context as set out in the Programme for Government.
The development of State-led early learning and childcare services will be enabled by capital allocation provided in the revised National Development Plan 2026-2030.
This work is being led by a new Forward Planning and Delivery Unit which is focused on identifying areas of need, forecasting demand, and planning for the delivery of public supply within the early learning and childcare sector where required.
A key aspect of the preparatory work being undertaken by the unit is the development of a forward planning model. The forward planning model draws on administrative data to map the child population and location of funded services, and GIS mapping tools to model the link between children and available services. This will enable the identification and comparison of areas of need with a consistent methodology.
The approach to ensuring appropriate levels of early learning and childcare supply, including through State-led facilities, will be further articulated in the context of the Action Plan to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early childhood education and care system that the Government is committed to publishing.
508. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the specific supports (financial, operational, training, or business supports) which are being made available to smaller and rural childcare providers to maintain their viability within the core funding scheme. [52984/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraWhen first introduced in 2022, Core Funding had an annual allocation of €259 million. That annual allocation has increased each year since and will exceed €390 million for year 4 of the Scheme, starting in September. This represents an increase of over 50% in Core Funding in three years.
The Department has also made changes to improve the sustainability of providers through, for example, targeted measures for small and sessional services, a fee increase assessment and approval process for services with fees frozen at unsustainably low rates.
I understand services in isolated rural areas may face revenue challenges due to the natural fluctuations in a small local population. As a part of the Case Management process, financial assistance under sustainability funding may be granted in respect of the ongoing operational expenditure and liabilities of a service facing and unable to deal with these challenges. This funding is designed to support the continued provision of ELC/SAC Services Providers in rural communities and encourage efficiency by providing governance and business model supports to support the long-term sustainability and safeguard invest
As part of the Case Management process, City /County Childcare Committees assist services with issues and difficulties that arise. The CCC may refer Core Funding-partner services facing difficulties to Pobal and the Department to be considered for Sustainability Funding. Sustainability Funding is intended to prevent significant issues that threaten the viability of a service. Any service seeking these supports should contact their City/County Childcare Committee.
If a service is experiencing financial difficulty or concerns about their viability, they can avail of special supports available from the Department. These supports are open to all Core Funding Partner Services, both community and private, who are experiencing financial difficulty, following a financial assessment by Pobal. These supports can be accessed through local City/County Childcare Committees (CCC).
The supports provided by local CCCs include, assisting services with interpreting analysis of staff ratios and cash flow, as well as more specialised advice and support including financial supports as appropriate to the individual circumstances of Partner Services.
Although the Government is the primary funder of the sector, it is not the employer and cannot directly set wages or conditions. Instead, wage rates are negotiated through the Joint Labour Committee (JLC) process, with outcomes formalised via Employment Regulation Orders.
Thanks to the JLC process, and the State funding provided through Core Funding, minimum pay rates have increased twice in 2 years seeing, on average an increase of 13% in rates.
This Government remains committed to ‘continue to implement Employment Regulation Orders to attract and retain early years educators.’
Outcomes from the JLC process are supported by the Government through the Core Funding scheme, which has an allocation for this programme year (2025/2026) of €350 million.
For the 2025/26 programme year, €45 million has been specifically ringfenced to support employers with additional costs. The allocation of this funding to the sector is conditional on new Employment Regulation Orders being in place.
I have been informed that the JLC has, after public consultation, unanimously agreed on proposed new minimum rates of pay for the sector and has submitted these proposals to the Labour Court. If adopted by the Labour Court, these proposals will be laid before the Minister of State for the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment for consideration, as provided for under the Industrial Relations Act 1946.
I am hopeful that these proposals will soon come into effect, marking a positive change for our dedicated and skilled educators in the early learning and childcare sector and the services that employ them.
The Department continues to roll out ‘Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare, 2022-2028’ was launched in December 2021. It aims to strengthen the ongoing process of professionalisation for those working in the sector. It contains a range of commitments to raise the profile of careers in the sector and to support recruitment, retention and diversity in the workforce.
Department officials also discuss issues of recruitment and retention with stakeholders through a Sub-Group of the Early Learning and Childcare Stakeholder Forum. The general consensus of the Group is that pay is the single biggest issue but the Group has identified other actions, which the Department is now following through on, including:
• a Student Fast-track Process for recognition of studies to work in service out-of-term,
• the assessment of unfinished qualifications, where people who may have started a relevant qualification but did not get to finish it, can have what they completed assessed for meeting qualification requirements,
• an agreement to promote careers in the sector.
The Core Funding model commits to drive high-quality service provision. To support this, Core Funding requires all early learning and care (ELC), school-age childcare (SAC) and childminding services that benefit from Core Funding to engage in quality improvement practices, and to complete a Quality and Inclusive Practice Plan (QIPP) and end of year QIPP report. The DCDE provides the necessary tools and guidance for completion and the City and County Childcare Committees are available to support Partner Services at every stage of the Quality and Inclusive Practice Planning process.
509. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the way in which her Department verifies claims of a national net increase in services when some regions, such as Cork, have reported sustained decreases; and if she will provide a breakdown reconciliating national and regional figures. [52985/25]
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.
510. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to provide a list of agencies under her Department’s remit who currently receive training on recognising and responding to sexual violence; if this training is mandatory; the core competencies covered in existing training programs; and to provide a list of any agencies who don’t receive the latter. [53006/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe following bodies are under the aegis of the Department:
• Tusla, the Child and Family Agency
• Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI)
• National Disability Authority (NDA)
• Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO)
• Oberstown Children Detention Campus
• Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention, Tuam (ODAIT)
• Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC)
I can advise that I have referred this question to the aegis bodies for their direct reply to you.
511. Deputy Keira Keogh asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to provide an update on her Department's work in relation to the development of a national policy on the rights of children living in informal kinship care; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53011/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Programme for Government contains commitments with regard to kinship carers. Accordingly, the Department is in the process of developing a national policy on the rights of children living in informal kinship care. As part of the development of the national policy the Department:
• is in the process of completing the scoping exercise on informal kinship care in Ireland. This exercise will cover relevant legislation, the current reality for families in these arrangements including current access to supports, as well as a review of national and international literature and international perspectives and examples of best practice;
• is ensuring that the voice of the child is present from the earliest possible stage. Consultations with children and young people with experience of informal kinship care arrangements concluded in September. This approach is aligned with Article 12 of the UNCRC and the requirement that the child's views must be considered and taken into account in all matters affecting him or her;
• is concluding research to better understand the experiences of kinship carers, which will be finalised at the end of 2025.
• is concluding a consultation, via survey, with parents of children with experience of informal kinship care, which will also be completed at the end of 2025.
The scoping paper, including policy recommendations, will be finalised, reflecting findings from the foregoing research and consultations. The scoping paper will then be sent for public consultation, paving the way for the determination of a national policy on the rights of children living in informal kinship care. While this national policy considers the rights of children living in informal kinship care, the associated rights and necessary supports of their carers will also be considered.
512. Deputy Ann Graves asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the care package available to a person (details supplied) as his mother is elderly and wants to ensure he can be cared for long into the future; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53020/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra513. Deputy Ann Graves asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the care package available to a person (details supplied) as his mother is elderly and wants to ensure he can be cared for long in to the future.; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53020/25]
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.
514. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether her Department has any plans to expand the use of braille signage in public spaces; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53025/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra515. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether her Department has received any proposals to expand the use of braille signage in supermarkets; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53026/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 514 and 515 together.
I thank the Deputy for these questions and for highlighting the importance of accessible information for disabled people, including blind and visually impaired people.
Given the importance of accessibility for ensuring that disabled people can fully participate and thrive in their communities, Government is fully committed to increasing the accessibility of information and communication available in public spaces.
Part 3 of the Disability Act 2005 places an obligation on public bodies to ensure their services are accessible to disabled people. Section 28 states that following a request and as far as practicable, information and communication issued by public bodies to people with intellectual disabilities and hearing or visual impairments must be provided in accessible formats. Moreover, public bodies are also obliged to ensure that information provided in electronic formats is compatible with adaptive technology.
The National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030 launched on 3rd September sets out a whole-of-Government approach to progressively realising the rights of disabled people under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).
Article 9 of the UNCRPD emphasises the importance of accessibility by requiring measures to ensure that people with disabilities have equal access to the physical environment, transportation, information and communications, and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public. Such measures include identifying and eliminating barriers to accessibility to all public facilities, services and communications.
Following on from its publication, Government is committed to the full implementation of the Strategy including priority actions related to increasing the accessibility of information in public spaces.
The integration of Universal Design principles and good practice is identified within the Strategy as a key cross-cutting capacity strengthening initiative particularly in relation to achieving increased awareness of the imperative to provide more accessible information and services to the public and enhanced delivery of more coordinated action on accessibility across all Government Departments and public bodies.
516. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her attention has been drawn to the case of a child (details supplied); the actions she will take to ensure that this child has access to the services she requires; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53140/25]
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.
