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From:Department of Children, Disability and Equality

Minister for Children, Disability and Equality Norma Foley, today announced that over 90% of early learning and childcare services have signed up for the fifth year of Core Funding to date.

Core Funding is provided by the State to support early learning and childcare services and has been increased to a record level of €482 million for this programme year from September 2026 to August 2027.

The fee-freeze and maximum fee-caps which services must comply with under Core Funding have been key to the progress in recent years in improving the affordability of early learning and childcare services.

With uptake rates of Core Funding amongst early learning and childcare services now exceeding 90%, participation rates already remain consistent with previous years of Core Funding. Services can sign up to the fifth year of the scheme at any point over the course of the programme year, which further increases the percentage of services in Core Funding.

I am pleased to see such a strong sign up to Core Funding fromearly learning and childcare services.Core Funding supports parents by maintaining the fee freeze and maximum fee caps, and it also supports Partner Services to keep their doors open, recruit and retain staff, and deliver high-quality care.

“In the previous programme year, we saw over 4,600 services sign up to Core Funding. These were the highest numbers at any point since the scheme was launched in 2022.

Today, we have exceeded 4,600 services signing up to Core Funding for the fifth year and I expect that number to rise over the coming weeks and months.

The €482 million in Core Funding for this programme year is an increase of over €90 million on the previous programme year. It brings the total investment by the state to over €1.7 billion in Core Funding since the scheme was first launched in 2022.

There are strengthened affordability measures for families in this fifth programme year of Core Funding. The maximum fee caps, which were introduced for First-Time Partner Services in 2024 and reduced and extended to all new and existing Partner Services in 2025, have been lowered again this September. This means that approximately 12% of services will be required to reduce at least one fee. The fee freeze will continue to operate in other services, ensuring that all families will continue to benefit from this measure.

Core Funding is also providing increased funding for all Partner Services in recognition of rising cost pressures for the sector. This will balance the need for affordable early learning and childcare with ensuring sustainability for the sector.

Around €45 million of ringfenced funding was made available in the fourth year of the scheme to support providers to meet the cost of increased minimum pay rates. These minimum pay rates arose from the new Employment Regulation Orders (EROs) which commenced in October 2025, following negotiation by the independent Joint Labour Committee (JLC).

The Department has allocated €45 million in ringfenced funding in this current Core Funding programme year to support Partner Services with the cost of increasing pay. That allocation is contingent to new EROs being established, which has been the subject of the recent negotiations at the Joint Labour Committee.

I secured a ringfenced €45 million to support providers meet pay costs that may arise from the Joint Labour Committee process in line with our Programme for Government to continue to implement Employment Regulation Orders to attract and retain early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners.

“I welcome the news of new proposals in minimum rates of pay for Early Years Educators and School-Age Childcare Practitioners negotiated by the Joint Labour Committee.

If these proposals are implemented through new Employment Regulation Orders, they will bring much-needed improvements in pay for these dedicated professionals, enhancing the quality of care and education provided to children across Ireland.

I am hopeful that these proposals will soon come into effect, marking a positive change for our dedicated and skilled staff in the early learning and childcare sector and the services that employ them.

Alongside the increased Core Funding allocation of €482 million, Partner Services facing sustainability challenges can continue to avail of supports through the Department’s established case management process. This involves local City and County Childcare Committees and Pobal working together to assess and provide support including financial support to services experiencing difficulties.

For more information on Core Funding, including a list of Partner Services and allocations for previous programme years, please visit:Core Funding