Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 December 2023
90. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth what steps are being taken to increase supports for and to prevent the closure of small to medium sized early years settings in rural Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55648/23]
View answerInvestment in early learning and childcare is at unprecedented levels with public funding for the first time reaching more than €1 billion in 2023 – a clear demonstration from Government of the value of the sector. The overwhelming majority of this funding is allocated through Together for Better, the new funding model, which currently comprises the ECCE programme including AIM, the NCS and Core Funding.
One of the key objectives of Core Funding is to support the sector as a whole with the introduction of direct supply-side funding, in addition to the ECCE programme and the NCS, to create a more stable and sustainable financial environment.
Core Funding in Year 1 – with an overall allocation of €259 million contributed to services’ sustainability and significantly increased income for the overwhelming majority of services while providing greater funding stability.
For Year 2 of Core Funding, the budget has increased by 11% to reach €287 million, providing a sustainable platform for investment with increases for all services.
The additional funding for Core Funding Year 2 is being allocated as follows:
- €8.47 million towards funding the natural growth of the sector,
- €6.11 million towards non-staff overheads, to support services with increases to non-staff costs, while maintaining the fee management system,
- €2.2 million towards administrative staff time,
- €4 million towards the removal the year 3 requirement for the Graduates Premiums, underpinned by EROs, and
- €7.22 million for new targeted measures which are aimed at improving the sustainability of smaller and sessional services. These include a flat rate allocation of €4,075 for all sessional-only services, which will benefit approximately 1,700 services delivering ECCE, and a minimum base rate allocation of €8,150, which will benefit small, part time and school-age services.
Budget 2024 allocated an additional €37.4m to Core Funding. This increase on the 2023 allocation will support continued implementation of the scheme for the second programme year (September 2023 to August 2024) and into the third programme year from September 2024.
With additional funding of €14.65m being made available from September 2024, this translates into a full year allocation of €331m for year 3 of Core Funding, an increase of €44m, or 15%, on the current allocation of €287m.
This will support the delivery of a range of enhancements in Year 3 of the scheme to support improved affordability and accessibility for families, improved pay and conditions for the workforce and improved sustainability for providers.
Through ECCE capitation and Core Funding combined, services receive minimum of €79.20 per child per week in capitation under the ECCE programme and maximum of €95.85 with additional funding for graduate lead educators and graduate managers in the case of sessional services. This includes a flat rate allocation of €4,075 for all sessional-only services, which will benefit approximately 1,700 services delivering ECCE, and a minimum base rate allocation of €8,150, which will benefit small, part time and school-age services.
Special supports are available from my Department where a service is experiencing financial difficulty or has concerns about their viability, accessed through local City or County Childcare Committee (CCC). This support can take the form of assisting services with interpreting analysis of staff ratios and cash flow, as well as more specialised advice and support, including financial support appropriate to individual circumstances.
I would encourage any service experiencing financial difficulty and who would like support to contact their City/County Childcare Committee (CCC) to access case management supports.
