Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 October 2022
111. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth his views on the implementation of the core funding scheme in relation to the early childcare sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49600/22]
View answer115. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will outline the main developments under the core funding partner service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50361/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 111 and 115 together.
As I referenced earlier, the new Core Funding Scheme commenced on 15 September. While only in operation since then, Core Funding has already achieved significant success. 91% of services are in contract for Core Funding.
This means that a fee freeze now applies to the overwhelming majority of families using early learning and childcare services. It also means the ECCE Programme and the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) are being offered to all eligible families in these services.
This is particularly important in the context of rising prices for goods and services across the economy and in light of the significant additional investment that I secured for the NCS in Budget 2023. Core Funding has also supported the agreement of historic Employment Regulation Orders leading to wage increases for the large majority of staff in the sector.
There is also evidence of increased capacity in the sector, with initial analysis showing that increased child places funded through Core Funding are the type of capacity that is in highest demand relative to supply, particularly more baby and toddler places, as well as school-age places. The geographical breakdown across the country also indicates expansion in urban and commuter areas where there has been significant pressure on places.
In Budget 2023, I secured an additional €52 million to meet the cost of this increase in capacity in Year 1 of the Scheme. I also secured an additional €28 million to increase the Core Funding allocation to €287 million for Year 2 of the Scheme.
Already I have committed €4 million of that additional allocation bring further improvements to workforce pay and conditions (through the removal of 3-year experience rule for graduate premium) with the remaining €24 million to introduce other developments to the Scheme – that will continue to focus on meeting the combined objectives of Core Funding - improved quality for children, including through pay and conditions for staff in the sector, improved affordability for parents, as well as ensuring a stable income to providers.
