Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 March 2022
512. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he has considered any steps to increase the amount of childcare support for children under 12 months of age in County Louth. [16458/22]
View answerThe availability of high-quality early learning and childcare that is affordable and accessible is a key Government priority.
Since 2015, significant increases in State investment in early learning and childcare has given rise to a substantial growth in the numbers of children participating in these services. More than 100,000 children now participate on the universal pre-school programme on an annual basis and the National Childcare Scheme subsidises up to 80,000 children.
To ensure that the supply of early learning and childcare places meets demand, my Department has, since 2015, funded the creation of more than 27,000 new places through an Annual Capital Programme. Through this Annual Programme, priority has been attached to, inter alia, the creation of places for children under 3.
Before the onset of Covid-19, national data indicated that, on the whole, supply of early learning and childcare places was meeting demand, with evidence of undersupply for certain age groups including children under 3, and in certain areas.
Data gathered throughout the Covid-19 pandemic revealed lower demand for early learning and childcare, and reduced occupancy among early learning and childcare services. Indeed, data captured in June 2021 found significant vacancy rates across the country – with the national vacancy rate averaging at 21% and the vacancy rates for all age groups having risen significantly compared to two years ago.
|
National Vacancy Rate By Age (June 2021) |
Rate |
|
Up to 1 year (0-12 months) |
20% |
|
1 year+ to 2 years (13-24 months) |
10% |
|
2 years+ to 3 years (25-36 months) |
17% |
|
3 years+ to 4 years (37-48 months) |
17% |
|
4 years+ to 5 years (49-60 months) Non-School-Going |
12% |
|
4 years+ to 5 years (49-60 months) School-Going |
42% |
|
5 years+ to 6 years (61-72 months) Non-school going |
30% |
|
5 years+ to 6 years (61-72 months) School going |
48% |
|
6 years+ to 8 years (73-96 months) |
37% |
|
8 years+ |
34% |
|
Total |
21% |
The estimated overall capacity in Louth was 7,162 places, with an overall vacancy rate of 24%. Less than 1% of the capacity in Louth was for places for children under 12 months.
As part of ongoing efforts by my Department to monitor early learning and childcare capacity, Pobal, using the data captured as part of the Annual Early Years Sector Profile survey in June 2021 and current registration data, recently projected national vacancy rates in February 2022. These projections revealed an estimated fall in national vacancy rates from June 2021 to February 2022 – with vacancy rates projected to have fallen from 21% to 19%.
Pobal was asked to examine these projections further, specifically to establish if unused capacity varied by type of provision or location. Pobal has advised however that reliable projections by type of provision or location – would not be possible with the data currently available.
However, capacity - by type of provision and location - is currently being captured by the City/County Childcare Committees and will be available in the coming weeks. These data are being gathered as part of the Action Plan developed by my Department to respond to the early learning and childcare needs of Ukrainian children and their families.
Moreover, fieldwork for the next Annual Early Years Sector Profile Survey will commence in April 2022, which will allow for more detailed information on capacity among early learning and childcare services to be gathered.
In addition to these efforts to monitor capacity issues across the country, my Department is planning a range of steps to address any issue of under supply. A new funding model, to roll out in September, will provide funding for services aligned to costs of delivery so, for example, greater funding will be available to services that cater for younger children where costs of delivery are higher than older children. Some €70m has been allocated to my Department through the revised National Development Plan (NDP) – with the majority of this funding earmarked for new places. Another important step being taken by my Department, in partnership with the Department of Housing Planning and Local Government (DHPLG), is to update the 2001 Planning Guidelines for Local Authorities on Early Learning and Childcare Settings.
Parents experiencing difficulty in relation to their early learning and childcare needs should contact their local City/County Childcare Committee (CCC) for assistance. Contact details for CCCs may be found on www.myccc.ie.
