Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 April 2024
1056. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth what immediate action he is taking to increase the numbers of childcare places available; if he is aware that parents are being refused for waiting lists due to the high levels of oversubscription in some childcare facilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13592/24]
View answerEnsuring high-quality early learning and childcare is affordable and accessible to all children and, in particular, children from vulnerable backgrounds, is a key priority for Government.
My Department funds 30 City/County Childcare Committees (CCCs), which provide support and assist families and early learning and childcare providers with early learning, and childcare matters. They are in a position to match children and families to services operating with vacant places and engage proactively with services to explore possibilities for expansion, particularly where there is unmet need.
My Department is progressing a range of actions to ensure the supply of early learning and childcare (ELC) and school-aged childcare (SAC) meets demand.
Core Funding - the funding scheme introduced in 2022 - allocates funding for providers based on the cost of delivery. Under Core Funding, providers delivering ELC for babies and toddlers attract higher levels of funding, given the higher staffing requirements determined by the regulatory ratios for these children. Though only in operation since September 2022, initial analysis shows that this new funding scheme has given rise to a growth in capacity for these young cohorts. Budget 2023 allocated funding to secure a 3% growth in capacity for year 2 of the scheme, which has already materialised. Budget 2024 also secured funding to invest in a further 3% capacity growth from September 2024.
I also secured funding in Budget 2024 to open up the National Childcare Scheme to parents who use childminders from next autumn, in line with the commitment in the National Action Plan for Childminding.
A new Supply Management Unit has been established within my Department to lead on this important work. The development of this function is akin to the Department of Education’s Forward Planning Unit. The Supply Management Unit will oversee the allocation of new capital investment. €69 million was allocated to my Department over the period 2023-2025 under the NDP to enable capital investment in the sector.
In February, I was pleased to announce an €18 million capital grant scheme for the Early Learning and Childcare Sector. The Building Blocks Expansion Grant Scheme is part of the wider Building Blocks Capital Programme for this sector under the National Development Plan.
The primary focus of the Scheme is to increase capacity in the 1-3 year old, pre-ECCE, age range for full day or part-time care. The Scheme will provide capital grants to fund projects of between €50,000 and €100,000 for Early Learning and Childcare services to expand their capacity by means of small scale internal renovations and reconfigurations.
The Expansion Grant Scheme will provide for an immediate increase in affordable early learning and childcare places in 2024, and will be specifically targeted in areas in where they are needed most.
The Expansion Grant Scheme will be the first of two significant capital investment schemes, to be delivered in 2024 and 2025. A larger-scale Extension Grant scheme is currently being designed by my Department. Funding will be made available to providers next year to commence extension projects.
My Department does not oversee the management of waiting lists in services, they are managed at an individual service level. Data for monitoring capacity across the sector is collected by Pobal on behalf of my Department each year as part of the Early Years Sector Profile Survey (see www.pobal.ie/childcare/earlylearningandchildcaredata/). This data includes the number and percentage of services with vacant places and children on waiting lists. While this information can be used to provide an indication of demand for a given age group or service type it cannot be used as a measure of demand as not all services operate a waiting list and an individual child may be on multiple waiting lists in different services.
