David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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50. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of registered childcare providers who are not taking part in the core funding model; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26060/24]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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How many registered childcare providers are not taking part in the core funding model? Is the trend going up or down? Have any registered childcare providers opted out of the core funding model? In general, how is the model progressing?

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. Core funding has been in operation since 15 September 2022 and has achieved significant successes in terms of the high level of participation we are seeing. Right now, 4,632 services nationwide are eligible to partake in the core funding scheme. Of those, 4,369 are partner services, meaning 267 services have not signed up to core funding. We allocated €259 million to core funding in the first year, in which there was a 95% uptake. We grew core funding in year 2 to €287 million, which is what we have for core funding this year, and there was a 94.5% uptake, reflecting a decrease of 0.5% in the uptake between year 1 and year 2. In real terms, there was an increase in the number of services, given the overall number of services grew. These figures reflect greater engagement with the scheme in year 2 and, as I said, the numbers continue to grow.

My Department is very happy with the high level of engagement. Obviously, we cannot force services into the scheme, but every mechanism is being used to make the scheme attractive and encourage more providers to enter it. We have again grown the overall budget for year 3, with a very significant 15% increase. There will be €331 million in year 3, starting in September of this year, which is an increase far beyond the existing rates of inflation, recognising the pressures services face and the fact the number of services participating is growing, which is helping us to deal with that capacity issue the Deputy and I have spoken about previously. The additional money in year 3 will allow us to make certain enhancements to the scheme, and I am especially interested in what we can do to support the smallest services.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his response and congratulate him on the work he and his Department are doing on this important area. Has he or his Department carried out any audit of areas in the country to identify black spots where it is very hard for people to find childcare, crèches and so on, and if so, is that information available? One thing I came across when I was canvassing recently was the number of parents who are under an awful lot of pressure trying to find facilities, services and registered childcare providers, and it was put to me that some registered childcare providers were opting out of the core funding. Will the Minister confirm whether that is the case, and if so, does he have numbers on it?

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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There were a couple of questions there. We have some information about black spots, mainly through the city and county childcare committees. We have just set up a new unit in our Department, a bit like the forward planning unit in the Department of Education, very much designed around a better understanding of where pressure spots are, and we are feeding that information into local authorities for their development plans in order that they might be able to designate more areas as potentially available for childcare. We are just starting that process but it is a recognition we need to do more. We do not have the same levers as those we have with schools, but we nevertheless need to have that level of data.

Every year, some services will probably leave core funding. One of the reasons we have put in that very significant 15% growth in the overall budget relates to the fact we have more money to support services.

We are asking for a fee freeze so we are looking to provide more money through core funding to make up for what services might previously have gotten through raising fees.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I have two brief follow-up questions. Is it the case and can the Minister confirm that services which are not involved in the core funding model can charge what they like and that the Minister has no control over what they can charge?

Has the Minister or his Department entered into any discussions with the Department of Education - the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte might be interested in this as well - with respect to the possibility of registered childcare providers getting involved in the July provision model? They have the expertise, premises and staff who are quite often highly trained. Will the Minister initiate that particular debate and discussion with his colleague in the Department of Education? I am aware of places around the country where parents cannot get July provision yet there are very professional, registered childcare providers in place who can provide that service. I suggest the Minister investigates that. It might help a lot of families who are under pressure at this time.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Right now, where a service is not involved in the core funding model my Department does not have a mechanism to influence how much it charges. If the service is in the NCS the Department provides a significant subsidy to parents, which is growing this year - and very significantly in September - and which will lessen the costs. However, right now the Department does not have a mechanism if services are not within the core funding model. That is why it is so important that 94.5% of services are in the core funding model.

In terms of schools, the Department of Education published a new document this week on the use of school buildings. I am not sure if the Deputy has seen it yet so it is worth a look. The Department inputted to that. It is certainly far more positive in terms of the use of school buildings for childcare but particularly for after-school. Sometimes new schools give an extra class TCC and need it later on and it becomes a conflict but for after-school the whole school building is free and it has been confirmed that the income that goes to a school from after-school will not be deducted by the Department of Education. That is a really positive step.