Together for Better is the new funding model for Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC). Together for Better brings together the three major funding schemes, the Early Childhood Care and Education programme, including the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), the National Childcare Scheme and Core Funding. It implements a series of recommendations in the Expert Group report, Partnership for the Public Good.
Core Funding, which commenced on 15 September 2022, marks the beginning of the transformation the early learning and childcare sector to one that is increasingly publicly funded and publicly managed, delivering a service for the public good, through a partnership between the State and providers, to the benefit of children, parents, educators and practitioners, and society overall.
The primary purpose of Core Funding is to improve pay and conditions in the sector as a whole and improve affordability and accessibility for parents as well as ensuring a stable income to providers.
I was delighted to announce under Budget 2023 that the original allocation for Core Funding will be increased to €259 million for Year 1 of the Scheme to meet the cost of expanded capacity that has materialised through the actual application data that has been received to date. This significant expansion of capacity is not only positive for parents in providing more hours and weeks of provision, it is also positive for staff as it allows opportunities to work more hours per week and weeks per year.
Initial analysis shows the increased capacity is the type of capacity that is in highest demand relative to supply (i.e. more baby and toddler places as well as school-age places), supporting labour market participation of parents, and women in particular. The geographical breakdown across the country also indicates expansion in urban and commuter areas where there has been significant pressure on places.
Core Funding, underpinned by the Employment Regulation Orders, makes provision for improvements in staff pay and conditions, for additional administrative staff/time, and a contribution to non-staff overhead costs.
Core Funding is distributed in a fair, reasonable and transparent manner that is related to services’ costs of delivery. Consequently, services opening longer hours or offering more places will receive a higher value of Core Funding than other services. ECCE services remain a key component of the system, and in fact, the value of Core Funding offered is weighted in favour of sessional services for 2.5-6 year-olds. ECCE services receive proportionately more than other types of services relative to the staffing requirements of sessional pre-school provision.
It is important to acknowledge that Core Funding will intentionally address some of the existing disparities in funding levels across ECCE and non-ECCE provision, providing funding proportionate to the cost of delivery and supporting the employment of graduate Lead Educators across ELC provision as well as graduate Managers.
Services currently in receipt of ECCE standard capitation will see capitation increase at least 9.5%. A majority of services currently in receipt of ECCE higher capitation will also see a moderate capitation increase. A very small percentage of services will see no increase. These are larger ECCE-only services – with 20+ children in a session. ECCE sessional services with 22 children currently receives income of €1,829.30 per week. This will be matched in Core Funding. No service will see a decrease in funding.
Participation in the new partnership for the public good is optional and I am pleased to be working together with more than 4,000 Partner Services signed-up for Core Funding. I would encourage services that are experiencing difficulty and who would like support to contact their City/County Childcare Committee (CCC) to access case management supports. Services can be assisted on an individual basis through this route and it also allows for trends and themes across the country to be identified that can inform a more systematic response if necessary. My officials are not receiving any indications from CCCs that there have been providers reporting financial difficulties and in need of support. This case management process through the CCCs is the route to access additional sustainability funding if required.
