2503. Deputy Denise Mitchell asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality for an update on the issue of core funding for early years and childcare settings given the increasing number of creches withdrawing from the scheme; if she is considering increasing core funding; if any other measures are being taken to help providers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25414/26]

I am aware that some service providers have regrettably chosen to withdraw from Core Funding.

On 3 November 2025, 5,035 childcare services were listed as being open on the Early Years Platform. Of these, 177 (4%) had left Core Funding at one point over the lifetime of the scheme and continued to operate outside the scheme on this date. A further 415 (8%) services had left Core Funding but later rejoined and were signed up to the scheme on this date.

Of the 592 services that have left the scheme at one point, some 415 services were contracted to Core Funding as of 3 November 2025 – meaning over 70% of services who left the scheme at one point have now returned to Core Funding.

Where services announce their intention to withdraw from the scheme, the Department engages with such services, through the City and County Childcare Committees and Pobal, in order to ascertain the specifics germane to the service’s decision, and to highlight the benefits of staying in Core Funding; not only for their service but also for the families who avail of them.

As Core Funding is an optional scheme, service providers have the autonomy and business freedom to withdraw from Core Funding, even though this will result in the loss of significant financial support it offers them and the substantial benefits and certainty it brings to the families accessing the services.

While the Department cannot mandate providers to participate in the Scheme, every effort has been made to carefully design Core Funding to meet the policy objectives including to achieve high of participation by providers.

The introduction of Core Funding in 2022 brought a significant increase in investment for the sector. €259 million of funding was made available for services in year 1 of the scheme, of which €210.8 million was entirely new funding to the sector.

Core Funding has increased annually, now exceeding €390 million for the current and fourth year of the scheme. This is an increase of over 50% since the scheme began in September 2022. The additional funding is supporting further capacity growth, the maintenance of a fee management system to benefit families and significant improvements to pay and conditions in this valued sector.

I was delighted to announce further investment in Core Funding in Budget 2026. The additional funding being made available in 2026 will see the allocation for Core Funding in the next programme year which begins in September 2026 increase to over €480 million. That is an additional €89.3 million on the current full year allocation, or a 23% increase.

The Department has also made changes to improve the sustainability of providers through, for examples, targeted measures for small and sessional services, a fee increase assessment and approval process for services with fees frozen at unsustainably low rates.

Participation in Core Funding also unlocks access to enhanced support for services caring for concentrated numbers of children facing disadvantage. Equal Start is a funding model and set of associated universal and targeted measures to support access and meaningful participation in early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) for children and their families who experience disadvantage.

Partner Services also have access to Building Blocks capital grants. The Building Blocks Capital Programme is designed to support ELC services to expand their existing facilities by creating additional, full time, early learning and care spaces.

There are also financial supports available from the Department where a service is experiencing financial difficulty or has concerns about their viability, which can be accessed through their local City/County Childcare Committee while remaining within Core Funding.

All services have been encouraged to avail of these supports as an alternative to withdrawing from Core Funding and removing the benefit of Core Funding to children and their families.

Participation in Core Funding is optional, but it remains open to all registered providers subject to their agreement to the terms and conditions of the Core Funding Agreement.

It should be noted that uptake of Core Funding remains strong. As of 30 March, over 4,600 services have signed up to the fourth year of Core Funding which represents 93% of all eligible services. This is the highest number of Partner Services in Core Funding at any point since the scheme was launched in 2022 and the number continues to grow.