Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 September 2022
1235. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if the anomalies in the system that are preventing a childcare centre (details supplied) in County Kerry from completing a core funding application will be addressed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43076/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department apologises for any technical difficulties you experienced when applying for Core Funding. Pobal have provided assurance that a number of system bugs have been resolved and that the system performance and page load times have shown improvement in recent days. Work is ongoing to ensure that the application process will be much smoother for providers going forward.
Providers who accepted the Core Funding and Interim Funding Partner Service Funding Agreements by Monday 22 August received advance payments. Providers who accepted the funding agreements by 29 August received payment in respect of two weeks of funding by 2 September. Providers are now advised that they can accept the funding agreements any time up to close of business on Friday 9 September and still receive backdated funding in respect of 1 September onwards.
The introduction of Core Funding is contingent on Employment Regulation Orders (EROs) being in effect. Notification has this week been provided that the EROs will be in effect on 15th September so Core Funding will start from that date.
However, provision has been made for Interim Funding to be paid to providers between 1 September and the start of Core Funding. Providers must complete the Core Funding application process and accept both the Core Funding and Interim Funding agreements in order to avail of Interim Funding. The process of developing EROs is independent of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and is underpinned by legislation.
Any provider who would like support with their Core Funding application is advised to contact their City/County Childcare Committee (CCC). Any further technical issues, can be notified to the Pobal Early Years Provider Centre (EYPC) or your CCC, as this is the best way to make Pobal aware of any potential problems with the process.
Pobal has provided the following details in relation to escalating an issue with the EYPC:
- If a service has received a response to their request and the response is not what the service required or did not resolve the issue they can reopen their case and provide further clarification and EYPC will be happy to provide further assistance.
- If a service has received a response and is unhappy with the outcome or the service provided by the EYPC team they can log a complaint by mailing complaints@pobal.ie.
With regard AIM, applications for the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) level 4, 5 and 7 supports opened on the Hive on 3rd May 2022. AIM applications open in May each year to allow time for submission and approval of applications, which enables support to be in place prior to a child commencing in the ECCE programme.
Applications for AIM targeted supports are administered by Pobal on behalf of my Department. There are two steps required prior to submitting an AIM Level 7 application for 2022; confirming the AIM Service Profile and creating 2022 sessions.
When Pobal reviewed the case presented by this provider, it appeared the provider had not yet confirmed their AIM Service Profile for the 2022 programme call. A Pobal Advisor from the Early Years Provider Centre (EYPC) made contact with the provider on 30 August, and provided support to confirm their AIM Service Profile. The provider was also advised that Pobal approval is not required in order to proceed with applications.
