Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 October 2023
552. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of childcare providers that have indicated to his office or Department that they are in danger of having to close their business; and the number of childcare providers that have indicated to his office or Department that they will leave the core funding model if changes are not made, from 2022 to date, by county, in tabular form. [42577/23]
View answerCore Funding is a payment to providers designed to meet the combined objectives of improved affordability for parents, improved sustainability and stability for services, better supports for the employment of graduate staff, and better pay and conditions for the workforce.
As of 3 October 2023, there have been 4,182 Core Funding applications received, representing more than 91% of eligible services. This uptake rate is similar to the uptake rate for the same period in year 1 of the scheme - which over the course of the programme year increased to 95%.
There may be a variety of reasons why providers do not sign up to Core Funding. From correspondence received, some providers feel that the autonomy of their business is of greater value to them than committing to offering services under the terms and conditions required and investment levels on offer, through Core Funding, the ECCE programme and the NCS. This is a legitimate perspective and this year these services can continue to operate the ECCE programme and the NCS outside of Core Funding.
Core Funding in year 2 has an annual allocation of €287 million. This represents an increase of €28 million on the year 1 allocation. The additional funding – equivalent to 11% increase - is being allocated as follows:
• €8.47m for a 3% growth in capacity
• €6.11m for non-staff overheads
• €2.2m for administrative staff time.
• €4m for graduate premiums
• €7.22m for new targeted measures aimed at improving the sustainability of sessional services.
The information the Deputy requested of the number of providers that have indicated to my office or Department that they will leave Core Funding if further changes are not made in year 2 is not readily available. However, as noted above the uptake rates for year 2 and similar to the uptake rates for the same period last year.
Data on the number of services that have indicated to my office or Department that they are in danger of having to close their business since 2022 is also not readily available. However, recent Tusla data shows that 86 early learning and care services closed between January and August 2023 compared to 113 during the same period in 2022 and 106 in 2021. At the same time, between January and August 2023, 48 new early learning and care services registered, an increase from 33 over the same period in 2022 and 44 in 2021. This data would indicate that rate at which services are closing is slowing down while the number of new services opening is increasing.
