Dáil Éireann Debate, Monday - 7 September 2026
2809. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her attention has been drawn to the significant fee increase being imposed on families by a childcare centre (details supplied); her views on the financial burden that this puts on families; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59589/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra2810. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the position regarding the engagement her Department had with a childcare centre (details supplied) prior to the notice to parents that there would be a significant fee increase imposed on families; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59592/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra2811. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the position regarding the supports to families in cases whereby their childcare centre significantly increases their prices (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59594/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra2814. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her attention has been drawn to the continued absence by a large childcare provider (details supplied) from the core funding scheme; if she is aware of the significant knock on financial burden being placed on parents as a result; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59608/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 2809, 2810, 2811 and 2814 together.
The Department is aware that Once Upon a Time regrettably chose to withdraw several of its services from Core Funding, including one in Shankill, in 2025.
The Department, through the local Childcare Committees, has engaged directly with Once Upon a Time to highlight the benefits of staying in Core Funding, not only for their services but also for the families who avail of them. The Department is hopeful that the provider may reconsider their decision.
As Core Funding is an optional scheme, service providers have the autonomy and business freedom to withdraw from or choose not to participate in Core Funding, even though this will result in the loss of the significant financial support it offers them and the substantial benefits and certainty it brings to families.
A key condition of receiving the significant amount of State funding available through the Core Funding Scheme requires that Partner Services adhere to the Core Funding fee management system, including a freeze on fees at 2021 levels and fee caps. These measures support the Department’s ongoing policy developments in relation to achieving standardisation of fees charged to parents and of income received by Partner Services.
The fee freeze means that in return for funding through the scheme, services that sign up for Core Funding agree not to raise their fees above what was charged to parents on 30 September 2021. For services who were not in existence on this date, they are permitted to set their fees at their own discretion, but must adhere to their fees as set on the date that they signed their Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement. This helps ensure that taxpayers’ money is being used in a way that sustains services while not excessively increasing their private profit.
Maximum fee caps were first introduced for new entrants to the Scheme in September 2024. They were then lowered and extended to all Partner Services in September 2025. The cap was applied only to the highest fees charged to parents. This established a minimum level of affordability beyond which services would not be able to participate in Core Funding, with the maximum fees subject to annual review and amendment.
As part of the progressive development of the Core Funding fee management system, there will be a Sustainability Review process for Programme Year 5, with any sanctioned fee increases being implemented after September 2026. Fee increases will be limited in the Sustainability Review Process to vulnerable services charging the very lowest fees and incorporating robust protections for parental affordability into any new process. This targeted approach on low fees was implemented as a complementary support to the very significant funding increases secured for Core Funding for year 5 .
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 year 1 to over €482 million in year 5). This represents an increase of 86% in Core Funding in four years.
This increased investment will allow for further increases in capacity across the sector, with €21.4 million specifically set aside to support Partner Services in adhering to Core Funding fee management conditions, including reductions in the maximum fee caps, from September 2026. This will guarantee that Core Funding’s monetary protections will continue to be passed on to families while ensuring sustainability and stability for the sector.[]
As per the table below, Once Upon a Time Shankill’s projected full-year Core Funding allocation for year 3 of the scheme was €234,766.00, representing an increase of 25% since joining the scheme. The Department is aware that Once Upon a Time Shankill’s withdrawal from Core Funding was effective from 29/07/2025, due to this, the service did not receive a Core Funding allocation for the 2025/2026 year.
|
Name of provider |
2022/2023 Core Funding received |
2023/2024 Core Funding received |
2024/2025 Core Funding received |
Difference in grant value between 2022/2023 and 2024/2025 |
% change in grant value between 2022/2023 and 2024/2025 |
|
Once Upon A Time Shankill |
€187,145.78 |
€221,742.40 |
€234,766.00 |
€47,620.22 |
25% |
Participation in Core Funding also unlocks additional supports for services to access, including:
• 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.
There are also wider financial supports available where a service is experiencing financial difficulty or has concerns about their viability. These supports can be accessed through the Department’s case management process, which can be accessed while remaining in Core Funding.
Access to Core Funding remains open to all Tusla-registered providers, subject to their agreement to the terms and conditions of the Core Funding Agreement. Withdrawn services, including the Once Upon a Time services that have withdrawn from Core Funding, are welcome to reapply to the scheme.
The Department will continue to engage with the sector and explore further changes based on the operation of Year 5 of the Scheme as well as stakeholder input and income and cost data from providers.[]
The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme and the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) are currently available to parents regardless of whether or not the early learning and childcare service their child is attending is participating in Core Funding.
ECCE is a universal programme which provides 2 years of free preschool to children in the eligible age range of 2 years and 8 months to 5 years and 6 months. The Department funds private early learning and care service providers to provide the ECCE programme at a standard rate of €69 per week per child attending the ECCE programme.
The NCS has undergone a number of enhancements in recent Budgets with the minimum NCS subsidy steadily rising from €0.50 in 2022 to €2.14 in September 2024 alongside extensions to eligibility. Additionally, since September 2024, the NCS has been open to Tusla-registered childminders who wish to participate in the scheme. Families availing of childminders who are participating in the NCS can claim a subsidy towards their costs. Further enhancements to the income-assessed subsidy are being introduced from September 2026, raising the base threshold from €26,000 to €34,000 and the maximum threshold from €60,000 to €68,000, with additional increases to the multiple child discounts.
The Phase 1 report of Shaping the Future: the Early Years Action Plan was published in December 2025. The report sets out the next steps in the delivery of a number of Programme for Government commitments relating to Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC). The Action Plan adopts a phased approach that enables action to be taken in 2026 while allowing adequate time for a broad public consultation and analysis on longer-term actions, which will be set out in a second report to be published by the end of 2026.
The Phase 1 report (published last December) documents actions that will be undertaken in 2026 using the Department’s existing policy tools. The short-term actions in Phase 1 build on recent reforms to the National Childcare Scheme and Core Funding, and use existing policy mechanisms to strengthen affordability, access and quality.
In line with the Programme for Government commitment, a broad public consultation process is currently underway. Results of this consultation, as well as additional analysis, will inform Phase 2 of the Action Plan.
Phase 2 actions will be published later in 2026 and will be undertaken from 2027 through to the end of 2029. Phase 2 actions will include a roadmap to reduce parental fees to a maximum of €200 per month over the lifetime of the Government.
