143. Deputy Charles Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the funding streams currently available to childcare providers affected by defective concrete, including sustainability funding and capital supports; and the number of providers that have accessed such funding to date. [67395/26]

The defective concrete blocks issue is an ongoing wider government issue. Responsibility for defective concrete blocks remediation and capital reconstruction rests primarily with other government departments and local authorities. The Department of Children, Disability and Equality does not have direct responsibility for structural remediation or compensation for defective concrete affected buildings.

However, the Department of Children, Disability and Equality works with Pobal and local City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs) to offer Case Management Supports to services in difficulty.

Through this, services may access Sustainability Funding following an assessment of need. There is currently one service in receipt of sustainability funding who needed to temporarily relocate due to defective concrete.

I would encourage any service experiencing financial difficulty and who would like support to contact their CCC to access case management supports.

Contact details for the CCCs can be found at www.gov.ie/en/department-of-children-disability-and-equality/publications/city-and-county-childcare-committees/

The Building Blocks Extension Scheme Phase 2, which is being operated by the Department 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.

This follows on from the following Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme which is currently committed to funding three projects in Donegal, including some projects being led by community services which I understand were affected by defective blocks.