Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 April 2023
338. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the grant aid, if any, available from his Department to support the building of new childcare facilities and crèches; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20099/23]
View answerMy Department successfully secured €69 million under the National Development Plan allocation for the Building Blocks Capital Programme. The Building Blocks Capital Programme includes three Pillars:
• An Improvement Grant to improve energy efficiency standards, while also supporting the continuous improvement of the physical environment of services. Successful applicants have since been advised of the outcome of this scheme.
• A Capacity Grant to address capacity gaps, by funding an expansion in existing services and investing in the development of new services where most needed.
• An Innovation Grant to pilot a range of innovative initiatives for early learning and childcare services.
Work is underway in the design and delivery of the Capacity and the Innovation Grant schemes. These schemes will be designed to meet current and long-term Early Learning and Childcare infrastructure needs. I hope to announce details of these schemes later this year. As it stands, there is no further capital funding currently available to the Department in 2023.
I am encouraging services to maintain contact with their local County Childcare Committees, which will be in a position to advise them on all aspects of the schemes, once they are launched.
