Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 11 May 2022
209. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will outline proposals to increase the number of childcare providers in the Newcastle, County Dublin area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23765/22]
View answerThe availability of high-quality early learning and childcare that is affordable and accessible is a key Government priority.
My Department successfully secured €70m in the revised National Development Plan (NDP) allocation, which will enable significant capital investment in early learning and childcare over the period 2023-2025.
This adds to the substantial level of capital investment by the State in recent years through my Department’s Annual Capital Programme which has, since 2015, funded the creation of more than 27,000 new places and has funded the upgrading of early learning and childcare services, with specific funding streams for services to comply with fire safety regulations and public health guidance in the context of Covid-19 and specific funding streams to enhance outdoor areas in these services.
Investment under the NDP will consist of three pillars: Modernisation, New Capacity and First 5 Initiatives.
€10m of total €70m NDP funding has been allocated to Modernisation in 2023. With much of the existing early learning and childcare infrastructure previously funded under EOCP and NCIP now in need of upgrading in order to be fully compliant with new regulations and to take account of new guidelines published by my Department, including the Universal Design Guidelines for Early Learning and Childcare Services and the National Quality Guidelines for School-Age Childcare Services.
Over the period 2024-2025, the remaining €60m in NDP funding has been largely earmarked for new capacity, to ensure that the supply of early learning and childcare places meets demand.
In addition to funding under the NDP, my Department is taking a number of other steps to ensure demand the supply of early learning and childcare places meets demand, including steps to strengthen the capacity to forecast supply and demand, updating the 2001 Planning Guidelines for Local Authorities on Early Learning and Childcare Settings, in partnership with the Department of Housing Planning and Local Government (DHPLG), and proactively engaging with early learning and childcare services, through City/County Childcare Committees, in areas where there is unmet need for early learning and childcare from families.
In addition, a new funding model, to roll out in September, will provide funding for services aligned to costs of delivery.
Core Funding is designed to be proportionate to operating costs. Core Funding is therefore based on operating hours, number of places offered by services and the age group of children for whom the places are offered, given the staffing requirements determined by the regulatory ratios for different care categories. Services opening longer hours or offering more places will receive a higher value of Core Funding than other services. This is because their costs of operation are higher. Greater levels of funding will be available to services that cater for younger children where costs of delivery are higher than older children.
Table 1 Number of Providers in County Dublin
|
County |
Total 2018/2019 |
Total 2019/2020 |
Total 2020/2021 |
|
Dublin - Dublin City |
445 |
450 |
432 |
|
Dublin - Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown |
185 |
187 |
178 |
|
Dublin - Fingal |
326 |
322 |
303 |
|
Dublin - South Dublin |
255 |
259 |
237 |
Table 2 Vacant Places in County Dublin
|
County |
Vacant places &Vacancy rate 2017/2018 |
Vacant places & Vacancy Rate 2018/2019 |
Vacant places 2019/2020 & Vacancy Rate *
|
Vacant places 2020/2021& Vacancy Rate ** |
|
Dublin - Dublin City |
581 (4%) |
627 (4%) |
- |
1,662 (20%) |
|
Dublin - Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown |
224 (4%) |
173 (2%) |
- |
403 (11%) |
|
Dublin - Fingal |
450 (4%) |
536 (5%) |
- |
1,176 (20%) |
|
Dublin - South Dublin |
373 (4%) |
424 (5%) |
- |
983 (18%) |
*Due to the impact of COVID-19 no data is available for 2019/2020
** 2020/21 figures carry higher margins of errors due to extrapolation based on reduced response rates.
