392. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether all providers in receipt of core funding are required to submit updated fee lists annually; the way in which those fee lists are verified against the baseline fee applicable under the scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50368/26]

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.

When first introduced in 2022, Core Funding had an annual allocation of €259 million; €210.8 million of which was entirely new funding to the sector. That annual allocation has increased each year since and has exceeded €390 million for the current fourth year of the Scheme. This represents an increase of over 50% in Core Funding in three years.

Additional funding secured in Budget 2026 will see the allocation for Core Funding in the next programme year from September 2026 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. This approach to stabilising fee rates in the sector is in line with the recommendations outlined in Partnership for the Public Good, the Expert Group report which was accepted by all of Government in December 2021.

Other key recommendations in Partnership for the Public Good related to supporting transparency for parents. Significant progress has been made in this area over recent years, including the building of a universal fee table consolidating fee information from all State schemes; data validations on the Early Years Hive to improve data quality; and the introduction of a Common Fee Structure to establish a framework for the categorisation of care types.

All Scheme participants are required to update their fee table at the start of the programme year, as per the 2026/2027 Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement at clause 4.3.24, “The Partner Service shall ensure that the fees set out in the Fee Table, Fee Policy and Parent Statement for Partner Services are the Fees Charged to parents or guardians for the relevant services offered in Programme Year 5 (2026/2027). Failure to comply with this obligation may result in the Minister, Department or Scheme Administrator exercising their rights under Clauses 7 and 8.”

To further improve the quality and transparency of information available to parents, 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 every 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 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].