Federation of Early Childhood Providers says Government ‘core funding’ is not enough
Some 264 childcare providers plan to close in 2023 because the Government’s “core funding” subsidy is not enough to keep going in the face of inflation.
That is according to the Federation of Early Childhood Providers (FECP) which surveyed more than 1,000 of its members in response to announcement of core funding from Minister for Children Roderick O’Gorman.
The survey found 5.66 per cent of providers said their service will not remain open next year, based on available funding. This rises to 7.5 per cent of providers of early childhood care and education.
FECP said its figure of 264 providers getting ready to close was arrived at by extrapolating from its survey findings, to cover about 4,668 childcare providers in Ireland.
The organisation said the Government’s “free year” of crèche cover would be jeopardised by the closures.
Funding from Government, which covers support for part and full time day care as well as after school support amounts to €221 million which nursery providers say is just not enough to keep smaller operators open, given rising costs in energy, insurance, food and wages this year.