Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 June 2021
1023. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if staff salaries represent 70% of the cost of the childcare sector; his views on whether this is 70% of providers costs; and if not, if it is 70% of all costs including costs that are covered by the State funding. [31907/21]
View answerThe Review of the Cost of Providing Quality Childcare Services in Ireland was published in November 2020 and provided analysis of the costs of providing childcare and the factors that impact on these costs. Data for the Review was captured in a survey on income and costs administered to centre-based providers in 2018 and breaks down key cost components for providers.
The Review found that payroll accounts for an average of 70% of all overall costs incurred by services. Utilities and overheads account for 7% on average, with premises costs accounting for 6% on average. The remainder of costs include materials and equipment, consumables,professional and bank fees and other costs. There was some variation by service type in the proportion of costs that pay accounts for; payroll accounted for 68% of costs for private providers, and 78% for community providers.
The report also provides analysis of the proportion of income that services receive from public funding and parental fees. The study found that State funding accounted for, on average, 60% of all overall service income, with the remainder coming from parental fees. Data from the report also indicates that for over 70% of services, 30% or less of their income comes from parental fees. Reliance on parental fees can vary considerably across service types.
The full report and survey are available here: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/1fbfe-crowe-report-review-of-the-cost-of-providing-quality-childcare-services-in-ireland-march-2020/
A new Survey on Income and Costs is currently being administered by Pobal alongside the 2020/2021 Annual Early Years Service Profile. This will provide up to date data on income and costs to services, and is also intended to inform the development of policy and funding schemes in the future as well as the Expert Group which is working to develop a new funding model for ELC and SAC.
