Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 29 September 2022
215. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth his plans to make public the list of signatories to the new core funding model; and the consequences for organisations that sign up to the scheme but do not pass on the benefit of a fee freeze to parents. [47750/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAffordable, accessible, high-quality and sustainable early learning and childcare is a key priority for Government, as demonstrated in the recent investment exceeding €1 billion in Budget 2023.
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). The new funding model, Together for Better, including Core Funding, the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) and ECCE, incorporating the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), will support delivery of ELC and SAC for the public good, for quality and affordability for children, parents and families.
Core Funding, which began in September, is the new funding stream with an allocation of €266 million in 2023 to start this partnership for the public good between the State and providers. Its primary purpose is to improve pay and conditions in the sector as a whole and improve affordability for parents as well as ensuring a stable income to providers.
A central condition of Core Funding is that providers agree not to increase fees above those which were charged last year. Providers who had increased their fees since September are required to revert to September 2021 levels under Core Funding from the point of coming into contract for the scheme. This gives parents greater certainty about what they will be charged and ensures that the significant increases to NCS subsidies are not absorbed by fee increases. The approach to fee management will be developed further over time.
Participation in the Core Funding is optional and, to date, 90% of services are signed-up and thereby agreeing to operating the fee conditions. The full list of participating Partner Services is available here: first5fundingmodel.gov.ie/together-for-better/
The Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement outlines the terms and conditions of the Grant, including specific clauses on Fee Management. The Funding Agreement is publicly available here: first5fundingmodel.gov.ie/core-funding/
The Funding Agreement states clearly that failure to comply with the terms of the Agreement may result in a service's exclusion from the Grant, suspension of the Grant, and/or a termination of the Agreement, including remedy of breaches or refund of any excess charges to families.
I encourage any parent or provider who has queries in relation to Core Funding to contact their local City/County Childcare Committee for support and guidance at: myccc.ie/
