Dear Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare Providers, 
Please see the following information regarding Core Funding for the 2023/2024 programme year in this announcement:
- Review and Confirm
- New targeted measures
- Core Funding payments
- Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement
- Support information
Review and Confirm
Under the Core Funding Programme, Partner Services are required to Review and Confirm their Core Funding Application information throughout the programme year.
The first pre-programme Review and Confirm window for the 2023/2024 programme year is open Tuesday 1 August until Thursday 31 August 2023. Partner Services are required to complete their online Fees Table and Parent Statement for Partner Services before completing the August Review and Confirm.
It is important the Review and Confirm process is completed within the required timeframe, as Core Funding payments will not commence for the 2023/2024 programme year until the process is completed.
A Partner Service’s base rate will be capped on the date of approval of their August Review and Confirm or the date of approval of their application, whichever is the later, i.e. this will be the maximum funding provided in respect of capacity for the programme year. The Partner Service’s base rate may fluctuate throughout the programme year, but any increase above the capped level will not be reflected in allocations and services will not receive payments in excess of their capped base rate value.
To complete the Review and Confirm process, your Core Funding Application Module must be at status Approved. If your application is at ‘Referred Back’, you must address the reason it was referred back and then complete the Review and Confirm process.
To support services in completing a Review & Confirm form, a detailed guidance document and tailored training videos are available in the Resources section of the Early Years Hive.
New Targeted Measures
A new Core Funding Allocation Model for Programme Year 2023/2024 was announced in May which included €7.22m allocated for new targeted measures which are aimed at improving the sustainability of smaller and sessional Partner Services.
Sessional Only Services:
A flat rate allocation of €4,075 will be given to all services registered on the Tusla Register of Early Years Services as sessional only. This additional measure is only available to services with no other Tusla registration including School Age Registration on the Tusla School Age Register.
The €4,075 is a full programme year amount: Partner Services that are in Core Funding for less than a full programme year will be allocated the appropriate number of weekly payments for the time they are in the programme. The flat rate allocation will be paid in addition to the Core Funding base rate and Graduate Premium.
The flat rate awarded is shown separately to the base rate awarded on the application module. The base rate allocation on the funding section of HIVE will be inclusive of the base rate and flat rate top up.
Further information on the new targeted measures can also be found on the Core Funding Documents page of the Early Years Hive.
Minimum Base rate allocation:
The minimum base rate allocation will be set at €8,150 for all Partner Services except childminders. This is the minimum amount of funding a centre-based Partner Service will receive from their Core Funding base rate and the flat rate allocation for sessional services where applicable. All Partner Services delivering centre-based provision, regardless of the size of their service, will receive at least this minimum base rate allocation. The €8,150 is a full programme year amount, Partner Services that are in Core Funding for less than a full programme year will be allocated the appropriate number of weekly payments.
Maximum Base rate allocation:
There will be a new maximum base rate allocation of €600,000. Partner Services will not receive base rate funding beyond this maximum value. This maximum does not apply to the Graduate Premiums, which may still increase a Partner Service’s total allocation beyond this maximum base rate allocation.
Core Funding Payments
The first payment for the 2023/2024 programme year is scheduled to be processed on the week commencing 21 August, covering the period from 1 September to 30 September, and should reach Partner Services’ bank accounts on Friday 25 August.
Future Core Funding payments will be paid in advance and equate to four or five weekly allocations depending on the number of weeks in the month as per the Core Funding Payment Calendar.
The Core Funding Payment Calendar is available here.
Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement
Once a partner service has submitted their application, they have a 14-day window to activate the Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement 2023. The funding agreement can be found on the All Programme Applications page of the Early Years Hive.
If you do not accept your Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement 2023, your Core Funding application will be cancelled, and you will need to reapply. Partner Services will only be paid from date of Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement acceptance.
You can view a copy of the Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement 2023 on the Core Funding Documents page of the Early Years Hive.
A training video is available here to guide Partner Services on accepting the Funding Agreement.
Support
If your service requires support completing an application, additional resources are available on the Core Funding Documents page on the Early Years Hive.
Your local CCC (County Childcare Committee) can also assist you in completing your Core Funding Application Module.
If you require any further assistance or clarification on any of the above, please contact the Early Years Provider Centre by raising a Request as follows:
- Programme: Core Funding
- Request Type: Application
- Request Type Detail: Application
Best regards,
The Early Years Team
“The What Works initiative was established by my Department to promote the use of data and evidence in best practice amongst prevention and early intervention policymakers, practitioners and service providers. This new Building Evidence Fund will provide organisations with once-off funding to dedicate time and consideration to developing and improving their collection and use of data to assess the real-life impacts of their services on service-users. Ultimately, this fund will support service providers in their goal of improving outcomes for children and young people.”
