Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 November 2023
38. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of child service providers in Cork; the number that have withdrawn; the number that have issued notice to withdraw for the years 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48467/23]
View answerMy officials have clarified that the question refers to permanent closures of Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) services in Cork since 2021.
Every year it is normal for some services to close while other new services open. Services close for a wide variety of reasons including retirement of owners or other personal circumstances.
Tusla is the independent statutory regulator for these services, and is responsible for maintaining the register of services. Services are required to register with Tusla in accordance with the Childcare Act 1991, as amended and associated regulations. Registered providers are required to notify Tusla in writing of the closure of a service not later than 28 days after the closure. The register is updated monthly. Data from Tusla is only available a month in arrears so the most recent data available to the Department, at this time, is from September 2023.
In order to give a comprehensive answer to this question, information is required from Tusla. Due to the Work to Rule action, Tusla was unable to provide the information before the deadline. However, I have received this information from the Tusla Early Years Inspectorate previously and so can give an answer, with a note that it is not the data Tusla have provided for this specific question and may be subject to change.
The number of services that have closed in Cork, both City and County are as follows:
• 16 ELC services and 0 SAC (Standalone) services ceased operating in 2021;
• 13 ELC services and 6 SAC (Standalone) Services ceased operating in 2022;
• 15 ELC services and 5 SAC (Standalone) services have ceased operating at the end of September 2023.
In the same period, in Cork City and County:
• 7 new ELC services and 15 new SAC (Standalone) services registered in 2021;
• 5 new ELC services and 22 new SAC (standalone) services registered in 2022;
• 4 new ELC services 29 new SAC (standalone) services have registered as of the end of September 2023.
It should be noted that the data for ELC services includes services that provide both ELC and SAC. The data for new services therefore does not include the addition of a new service to a pre-existing service (i.e. an existing ELC expanding to offer an SAC service).
It is important to note that net closures of services do not necessarily imply a reduction in capacity in the sector.
