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Childcare Services Funding

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 February 2019

Wednesday, 13 February 2019

Questions (37, 38)

Anne Rabbitte

Question:

37. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on whether existing levels of capital funding for childcare providers are sufficient; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7065/19]

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Aindrias Moynihan

Question:

38. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will target funding from the upcoming 2019 early years and school-age capital programme for north-west areas of County Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7043/19]

View answer

Oral answers (14 contributions)

Is the Minister satisfied that the existing levels of capital funding for childcare providers are sufficient, and will she make a statement on the matter?

I propose to take Questions Nos. 37 and 38 together.

A key priority for me as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs is to support the early learning and care and school-age childcare sector through the provision of capital funding where it is most needed. In this regard, I have allocated significant funding in recent years for the creation of early learning and care and school-age childcare places where most needed and for improving the quality of the infrastructure nationwide. In 2019, I have secured a capital budget of €9.606 million for the sector, which will enable us to focus on increasing the number of places available and supporting the transition of services to the forthcoming affordable childcare scheme. Some €6.106 million of the funding has been allocated for the 2019 early learning and care and school-age childcare capital programme.

The funding will be delivered in three strands. Some €4.231 million has been allocated to strand A, which will offer grants of up to €50,000 in value to early learning and care providers for the creation of places for children up to the age of three where there is clear evidence of demand. Some €0.875 million has been allocated to strand B, which will offer individual grants of up to €15,000 in value to aid community and not-for-profit early learning and care services in addressing fire safety issues that have been highlighted in inspection reports by Tusla, the HSE or local authorities. Some €1 million has been allocated to strand C, which will offer individual grants of up to €20,000 in value to school-age childcare providers for the creation of new school-age places where there is clear evidence of demand. Funding will be available nationwide in a competitive process, with the application window open between Monday, 25 February and Wednesday, 27 March 2019. Applications will be appraised on a number of criteria, including demonstration of need, value for money, the capacity of the organisation, that is, its compliance with the scheme rules, project achievability and socio-economic deprivation in the service’s location.

Grants will be allocated to applications of the highest quality. In accordance with the principles of fairness and equity no funding will be earmarked in advance for any particular area in the country such as the north-west part of County Cork.

One of the central aims of the capital programme is to allocate funding for projects where need is clearly evidenced, regardless of the region or area in which a service may be located. The capital programmes are necessarily a budget-limited exercise. The maximum available under each of these strands has been determined in consideration of optimising what can be delivered by each individual grant, as well as maximising the amount of providers and children who will ultimately benefit from the funding.

In addition, I am very pleased to have ensured that childcare was identified a strategic priority in the National Development Plan 2018-2027 and to have secured €250 million capital funding for childcare under the plan. This represents the kind of large scale investment in the sector by the State that has not been undertaken since the wrapping up of the national childcare investment programme in 2010.

This investment will be essential, I believe, to respond to the increased capacity we expect as the new affordable childcare scheme is introduced. The scheme will radically change how this country supports the cost of early learning and care and school-age childcare. Research is ongoing in my Department to determine areas of specific need that the national development plan funding will address when it comes on stream in the coming years.

I welcome the €9 million and I have seen the progress to which it has given rise. I am still not convinced, however, that it is enough. I am still not convinced it is hitting the targeted area completely. How do these figures match up with the Department's growth projections with demands in the sector within the next ten years? This is the second time I have spoken about Mountbellew Community Childcare Centre. If those who run the centre were to add on an extra room, the cost would be approximately €170,000. However, the maximum grant for which they can apply is €50,000. That centre is turning people away. Mountbellew is a feeder town for Athlone, Galway and Ballinasloe. The centre has a capacity issue and we need to see if there is another strand for exceptional circumstances where we could support childcare infrastructure and capacity.

I hear the Deputy and I acknowledge that she does not believe the investment of €9 million this year is enough. Deputy Rabbitte questioned the capacity to target the funding to where it is most needed. She also asked if we miss some places because we do not have enough money or if it is possible that we just miss certain places. The Deputy stated that there is not enough funding. I accept what she is saying and there is no question but that I will continue to seek further investment. I am grateful that I was able to obtain €9 million for 2019.

The Deputy also commented on the targeting of funds. The Department and Pobal do a pretty good job in targeting the funding, with scenario analyses and the ongoing feed in from the different providers. They are not, however, always necessarily on the mark and this is why it is important for others to feed in if there are concerns. The Deputy referred to exceptional cases. The Deputy is aware that the Department is always open to hearing that and to working with providers in some way to continue to ensure their sustainability.

Parents are concerned that they would have availability of childcare places locally and that they would not have to travel all over the country to get access to a naíonra, a Montessori or other such facilities. Populations are growing in different areas. Ballyvourney and Ballincollig, for example, are two fairly different scales. The Cluain Réidh housing development in Ballyvourney is now fully occupied and planning permission has been obtained for the building of additional houses behind Cúil na Carraige. This is on top of demand that was already there. Parents are keen to have the centre or a naíonra available to them. I put it to the Minister that the scale of the funding is too small. Is there going to be a targeting of funds to fit in with the Straitéis 20 Bliain don Ghaeilge 2010-2030 to provide additional support for naíonra positions?

The situation in Ballincollig is on a much larger scale. There are 50 houses already occupied in Lisheen Woods. Murnane and O'Shea Limited is building 130 houses behind the Gaelscoil. The houses at Nagels garden centre are occupied and the field across the way from it has planning approved. Clearly, there is much bigger growth and demand in that region and yet no spaces were approved over the last year. Will additional priority be given to places that have not received funding previously?

Generally speaking I would think yes, but obviously they would have to meet the various criteria in that regard. It is also dependent on the scale of funding. I have already accepted the Deputy's colleague's comments to the effect that the funding is not enough. We will continue to seek as much capital investment as possible. If it is required for naíonrí or other smaller facilities that were not able to access funding previously, it could be taken into account in the future, but they will also have to meet other criteria.

With regard to larger capital investment, especially in areas identified by Deputy Moynihan as having a growing population and housing developments, this is one of the reasons it is important to plan. My Department is engaged in research to determine the current and future need for that kind of capital investment. It is anticipated that this will give rise to a larger, more in-depth exercise whereby we will look at - and take into account - the issues identified by the Deputies to see how to go about setting the criteria and identifying the areas of most need.

We shall now have three short and snappy supplementary questions.

The recent Pobal report, The Early Years Sector Profile Report 2017-2018, indicates that 34% of toddlers were on waiting lists for early years care. The report stated that there was capacity for 88% of Ireland's three to five year olds. This blends into a cohort to attend childcare at any given point. When one breaks it down that way I do not believe that €281,000 per city and county is sufficient for delivery. I again ask the Minister if there is a need to support critical infrastructure in identified areas.

I have cited two examples - Ballincollig and Ballyvourney - but we are aware of many other areas across north-west Cork. The current allocation of €9 million leaves approximately €200,000 per county. For a county the size of Cork that allocation would be immediately swallowed by each of the places I have mentioned. Is there any indication that the Minister will be able to put additional funding towards larger counties where there is larger demand such as those areas of Cork?

I also asked about the straitéis 20 bliain and the need to support naíonrí and other centres that conduct their business as Gaeilge. Will this also inform the directing of funds towards those types of childcare?

Deputy Sherlock also has a relevant supplementary question.

I could go around the houses in north Cork - and in east Cork for that matter- but I will not do so. Does the Minister anticipate that the €9 million allocation will actually be used up? Will those funds be fully taken up?

I will answer the last question first. Yes, from our past experience I see it being taken up in full. There are usually more applications than we can fund.

Deputies Rabbitte and Aindrias Moynihan are aware that the Department works very closely with Pobal on the waiting lists to the extent that it is possible and with the science available. We work regularly with Pobal in scenario analyses to anticipate where the need is and around the costs required to build the capacity. This is not to say that there might not be some gaps around critical infrastructure in certain areas. Again, this is part of the information that needs to continue to be fed into the Department, especially through the county childcare committees or directly.

In the context of the amount of money available for a big county such as Cork, I shall remember that.

The Minister has not visited Cork since she was appointed.

The Deputy will be aware that, usually, if it is a large county and a large population, more investment in capacity would be required.

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