Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022
1398. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated full-year cost of increasing the spending on childcare to 1% of GDP. [41475/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraOver the past seven budgets, investment in Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC) has risen from €260 million in 2015, to €716 million in 2022. This excludes substantial funding provided to support the sector during the COVID-19 period. Despite this progress, investment in the area remains low by international standards.
In their latest calculation, the OECD report Ireland spends 0.2% of GDP on ELC compared to the OECD average of 0.7%. Ireland's spending also falls short of the UNICEF-recommended investment level of 1.0% of GDP. Ireland's calculation by OECD excludes spending on children under 6 that are in primary school.
In 2021, Ireland’s GDP was €428 billion. To increase spending to 1% of GDP, equalling €4.3 billion, an additional investment of €3.6 billion would be necessary.
Although investment in ELC remains unacceptably low, it is important to note that GDP is a misleading indicator in the Irish context. The OECD emphasises that, in the Irish context, “one should rely on other indicators” as GDP gives an inaccurate indicator of the country’s economic health.
A modified GNI was recommended by the Economic Statistics Review Group as a more useful comparator. This is designed to exclude globalisation effects that are disproportionately impacting the measurement of the size of the Irish economy. In 2021, Ireland’s modified GNI was €234 billion. To increase spending to 1% of modified GNI, equalling €2.3 billion, an additional investment of €1.6 billion would be necessary.
The First 5 Strategy commits the Government to at least doubling public spending on ELC by 2028. An Expert Group to develop a new funding model for ELC and SAC was established in 2019 to consider how best to structure this additional investment. In December 2021, Government adopted the 25 recommendations contained in an Expert Group report, Partnership for the Public Good: A New Funding Model for Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC).
Implementation of the recommendations of the Expert Group began in Budget 2022 with the announcement of the new €221 million Core Funding scheme and changes to the NCS. The full implementation of the Expert Group's recommendations is likely to be a multi-annual process, with funding becoming available on an incremental basis.
I am committed to increasing State funding to the ELC and SAC sector.
