389. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether compliance is monitored directly by her Department, by Pobal, by the network of City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs), or by another body; to outline the respective responsibilities of each organisation in relation to monitoring and enforcement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50365/26]

Core Funding is a supply-side grant to early learning and childcare providers towards their operating costs, designed to promote affordability for parents and sustainability for providers through increased funding to the sector.

The allocation for Core Funding in the next programme year, from September 2026, will increase to over €480 million, including €21.4 million in new funding to support Partner Services in meeting the fee management requirements.

A key condition of receiving the significant State funding that is available through the Scheme requires that a Partner Service adhere to the Core Funding fee management system, which includes a freeze on fees at 2021 levels and fee caps. This is to ensure that the State’s significant investment through the Scheme is not absorbed by unnecessary fee increases.

The Core Funding Programme, which is administered by Pobal, has a number of system validations in place as part of the application process to validate the information input by services. These system validations cross reference data on, or submitted by, services with a range of sources, including the Tusla Register of Early Years Services. This structured, system based approach has proven effective in ensuring the information provided by services is accurate and meets Core Funding requirements prior to contracting.

In July 2025 the Department commenced a Core Funding Fee Table Approval process. As part of this exercise, CCCs reviewed the 2025/2026 fee tables of each service that applied to the Fee Increase Assessment process in programme year 2024/2025.

Accompanied by new fee table rules in programme year 2025/2026 and a fee table guideline document, this exercise promoted compliance with and understanding of scheme rules among Partner Services, as well as transparency for parents through simplification and standardisation of fee table data.

For programme year 2026/2027, the fee tables of all Partner Services will be subject to the review and approval of their CCC.

In instances where an individual identifies a potential increase to fees charged or a potential breach of Fee Management rules by a Core Funding Partner Service, they may seek to have this examined and a conclusion reached through the Core Funding Fee Review process. For the 2026/27 Programme Year, this investigation process is being conducted by the National Fee Review Team (NFRT), as well as members of the Department who will reach decisions on individual cases.

The Department is only made aware of a potential breach of the Fee Management contractual obligations when a Fee Review request is escalated to the NFRT. Once it is raised, a Fee Review is commenced and where a Service is found to be in breach, they must sign a Declaration and carry out specific remedial actions. Once these remedial actions are complete, they are then considered to be compliant under the Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement.

In the event that an individual wishes to raise a concern regarding a potential breach in fee conditions, the first step is to reach out to their local [City/County Childcare Committee (CCC).]

Further detail on this process is available in the Guidelines on Fee Management section on the Early Years Hive: [Guidelines on Fee Management - Service Provider Portal].