Dáil Éireann Debate, Friday - 7 September 2018
1149. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if an application by an organisation (details supplied) for an early years and school-age grant will be reviewed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35415/18]
View answerThis year saw a significant increase in demand for Early Years and School Age Childcare Capital grants with nearly 2,000 applications received and appraised. I secured €6.86 million in funding for capital projects; however the level of demand and high quality of applications meant that unfortunately there were services that despite the obvious quality of their applications still missed out on funding.
The Early Years and School Age Capital Programme for 2018 was designed to target the areas of most need in the childcare sector by providing vital funding to services to complete capital projects. This year has seen an improvement in the timeline for delivery with the initial notifications reaching applicants by early June. This will give successful applicants more time to complete their capital projects and will also facilitate a more timely review process.
There has been a review process put in place for services that wished to receive feedback and a review of their application. This process, like the appraisal process, is being managed by Pobal on behalf of my Department. The review process is on-going and every service that applied will be treated in a fair and impartial manner. The service in question has already applied for a review and will be informed of the outcome directly when Pobal have concluded the process.
