Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 May 2024
242. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth his plans to review the rates paid to providers under the ECCE scheme in light of the significant increase in operational costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22227/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department funds private early learning and care service providers to provide the ECCE programme at a standard rate of €69 per week per child attending the ECCE programme. This ECCE funding is designed to cover the cost of the ECCE place, not to contribute to operational costs of the service. The Core Funding Scheme, which has been in operation since 2022 is specifically designed to contribute to the operating costs and sustainability of early learning and childcare services. Core Funding is tailored to the individual service, making it a more flexible platform for investment towards the operating costs of services.
Since the addition of the Core Funding Scheme, greater levels of capitation is available to services providing the ECCE programme. Services providing ECCE who are also signed up to Core Funding receive a minimum of €79.20 per child per week in capitation. This figure can rise to a maximum of €95.85 with additional funding for graduate lead educators and graduate managers for sessional services.
Core Funding in Year 1 – with an overall allocation of €259 million contributed to services’ sustainability and significantly increased income for the overwhelming majority of services while providing greater funding stability. For the small number of services, approximately 60 of the over 4,000 signed up, who saw no increase in their income through Core Funding, a funding guarantee applied. For Year 2 of Core Funding, the budget has increased by 11% to reach €287m, providing a sustainable platform for investment with increases for all services. This increase in funding allowed for the introduction of new targeted measures from September 2023 which are aimed at improving the sustainability of smaller and sessional services. These include a flat rate allocation of €4,075 for all sessional-only services, and a minimum base rate allocation of €8,150, which will benefit small, part time and school-age services.
The allocation will increase again by €44 million or 15% in September 2024, reaching €331 million for Year 3 of Core Funding.
Services that are experiencing difficulty and who would like support are encouraged to contact their City/County Childcare Committee (CCC) to access case management supports. This case management process through the CCCs is the route to access additional sustainability funding if required.
Regarding a review of the rates paid to ECCE services, I would note that I have commissioned an independent review of the ECCE programme. The aim of the review was to explore whether the ECCE Programme is meeting its core objectives and identify any changes or improvements that can be made to the Programme. The Final report is now complete and will be published in the coming weeks, once the report is released I will consider any policy changes which may need to be made to the programme.
