Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 May 2023
572. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the funding schemes offered by his Department for established early childhood education providers to construct a purpose-build facility to meet growing local needs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22740/23]
View answerSome €69 million was allocated to the Early Learning and Childcare sector in the revised National Development Plan (NDP) allocation. This will enable significant capital investment in early learning and childcare across three pillars: (1) Building Blocks - Improvement Grant, (2) Building Blocks - Capacity Grant and (3) Building Blocks - Innovation Grant.
The €9 million Building Blocks - Improvement Grant was launched by my Department late last year and applicants were advised of the outcome on 4th April. Grants range from €35,000 to €75,000 across two separate strands: 1. Green Energy (Strand A) and 2. Retrofit (Strand B). The Building Blocks - Improvement Grant was part of a wider Building Blocks Capital Programme for early learning and childcare under the National Development Plan designed to meet current and long-term early learning and childcare infrastructure needs.
The design of both the Building Blocks - Capacity Grant scheme and the Innovation Scheme are currently underway. These schemes will aim to address capacity gaps, fund the expansion of existing services and invest in the development of new services where most needed. I hope to provide more details of these two grant schemes in the coming months.
