Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 November 2017
45. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the level of funding that will be provided in 2018 to assist in the upgrading of existing child care facilities and the provision of additional child care places; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50185/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra60. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the level of funding that will be provided in 2018 to assist in the upgrading of existing community and private child care facilities and the provision of additional child care places, both community and private; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50186/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy colleague, Deputy Brendan Smith, apologises for his absence, which arises from his attendance at a meeting of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly in the House of Commons. Will the Minister set out the level of funding that will be provided in 2018 to assist in the upgrading of existing child care facilities and enable the provision of additional child care places?
I propose to take Questions Nos. 45 and 60 together.
An allocation of €6.86 million was secured in budget 2018 for my Department's capital funding programme. As in 2017, this will be allocated to early years and school age child care capital projects. An official announcement on the specification of the capital programme for 2018 is due to be made in the coming week and will see the early years and school age capital programmes running concurrently. There also will be a continuation of the childminding development grant, CMDG.
Officials in my Department have listened to feedback from providers in developing the capital programme 2018. The result of this will be a programme that builds on previous successes while also ensuring an earlier, more efficient delivery than in 2017. Delivery this year was delayed by two factors, namely, the huge volume of applications from providers seeking to improve or expand their services and, second, the possibility of incorporating significant extra funding into the capital programme from savings made elsewhere in the Department. We have learned from the difficulties experienced by providers as a result of this delay.
Departmental officials have liaised with Pobal and with city and county child care committees, CCCs, in order to determine the focus, priorities and structure of the capital programme, with a specific view to opening applications early in 2018. This will allow for significantly earlier appraisal and notification processes than in previous years. It will also provide for sign-off on the commencement of capital works approved for funding early in the summer of 2018. This represents a significant improvement on the timeline achieved under this year's programme and will be of significant benefit to providers working hard to deliver quality affordable child care in Ireland.
As in previous years, I anticipate great demand for capital grant funding in 2018. The programme will assist in achieving providers' goals in terms of the improvement, maintenance and expansion of child care services, with a particular focus on where this is most needed. Following the announcement of the specifications of the programme in the coming days, child care providers should be encouraged to make contact with their local CCC to obtain guidance on capital applications and any other issues relating to their service.
The Minister indicated that next year's capital programme will be announced earlier in the year than was the case in 2017. The capital programme for this year was announced in July, at which point, the Minister indicated, there was an immediate draw-down of funds. This allocation covered hundreds of projects with the objective of creating 2,200 new child care places. Given that the funding was not announced until July, will the Minister indicate, as we approach year's end, whether all the funds have been drawn down and all the additional places created? How much earlier in the year can the 2018 programme be delivered?
Will the Minister indicate the global figure for capital projects in 2018? The allocation for 2017 was €8.4 million, which is virtually double the sum for the previous year. It is important to ensure projects are identified and funding earmarked earlier in the year so that the full allocation can be drawn down in that year.
The total capital budget allocation for 2016 and 2017 was increased during each programme's run, in response to the extraordinary levels of demand from providers. Those increases were achieved through moving funds that arose out of savings and underspends elsewhere in my Department. For 2017, the total allocation ended up being €12.4 million. While the current capital allocation for 2018 of €6.86 million is not as high as the final figure for this year, it represents a significant increase on 2017's original baseline allocation of €5 million.
On the question of when funding is announced, I have tried to learn from the past and am absolutely determined to ensure applications are received as soon as possible so that plans can be made, moneys spent and improvements achieved. On the amounts drawn down in 2017, I will get that information for the Deputy.
The Minister pointed out that the capital funding for next year is less than the outcome for 2017. Is she anticipating further savings within the Department that would allow the 2018 outturn to be greater than the initial allocation?
I will have my eye on that, which is all I can say for now.
We will now return to the next question in order, which is No. 47, taken with No. 51, in the name of Deputy Thomas Broughan.
