504. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality when the next round of funding under the building blocks capital programme will be announced. [66995/26]

The Building Blocks Extension Scheme Phase 2 which will fund projects in 2027 to deliver additional capacity recently closed for applications. The scheme was open to Core Funding Partner Services, both community and private. The aim is to tackle the estimated undersupply of full-time places, particularly within the 1-3-year-old (pre-ECCE) age-cohort. Places for children in other age brackets were also eligible for funding, once the service can create at least the minimum number of places in the priority age-cohort.

Applications under Phase 2 are currently being appraised by the Department with input from the Office of Public Works. Services will be notified of the outcome of this appraisal process in the coming weeks.