Childcare Services

88. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to outline when the next round of State-led childcare project towns will be announced. [78256/26]

I am taking this question on behalf of the Minister, Norma Foley, who earlier this year announced €135 million in capital investment in buildings for high-quality, accessible, State-led early learning and childcare up to 2030. This is a groundbreaking initiative for the Government that is beginning this year. Capital funding will be used to acquire or fit out the buildings, depending on requirements. The Department has received project proposals from a number of sources since the programme was launched, and these projects are in different stages of development. Some relate to existing buildings ready to occupy or fit out, while others are long-term prospects for future years. Not all proposals align with the programme objectives. Some proposals are proposed by an existing learning and childcare service provider, while others relate to a building or a property only, and a separate process to identify an operator would therefore be required. The Department is aware that this is not an exhaustive list of projects, but it will form part of the programme of investment and the Department will continue to seek potential projects for consideration to add to that list. The Department is now assigning project options to identify which are best placed to deliver on the goals of the programme. The Minister recently announced the locations of seven proposed early learning and childcare projects under the State-led early learning and childcare capital scheme. Across the seven proposed locations, there is the potential to provide around 600 places to support the Department of Children, Disability and Equality's policy of improving access to high-quality, affordable early learning and childcare under the action plan for early learning. Negotiation processes are ongoing in relation to the acquisition of two other sites in Leinster and Munster under the first phase of the State-led initiative. Further projects are also being developed by the Department and information on future projects will be provided as it becomes available. After approval in principle, a final business case is developed for the project, which includes the selection of an eligible operator, agreement of investment, purchasing of buildings and detailed building design and costings. The final business case is then considered by a capital steering group prior to being submitted for approval.

I thank the Minister of State, but I will highlight the issues that we face in north Kildare. I was disappointed that no town in north Kildare was on that list. North Kildare, as the Minister of State knows, has a significantly growing population. Not only that, but Naas is the seventh largest town in the country. In Maynooth and Kilcock, we have two of the areas with the youngest populations in the country, yet we do not have locations identified for them. We also have Leixlip, Celbridge and many other towns where we see significant need. It is important that we use one of those locations as a pilot. There are many buildings in the town centres that we can use. I know there has been much conversation about those locations being used for emergency accommodation. It would be more important to focus on delivering pilot programmes in some of these locations rather than let them be bought out by third parties for emergency accommodation provided by Dublin City Council.

That is fair, but we can only deal with the applications that come in to us. Kildare County Childcare Committee has not made a proposal through the submission of preliminary appraisal forms, so I ask that the Deputy engage with it on this. A number of city and county childcare committees made appraisals and forms, and on that basis the applications were generated, and as I outlined, they went through quite a rigorous process. Once a final business case is then presented, it provides full details of the projects that have been developed. Only at that point can final approval for funding be sought. It is quite a lengthy process. They need to first do the appraisal forms. They then need to put forward a full application, and then there is a round of a final business case. That initial step has to be taken by Kildare or a provider in Kildare. We would certainly welcome any pre-appraisal or preliminary appraisal application forms from Kildare on this.

Many providers in Kildare have difficulty finding a location because of the cost. That has to be indicated here. We see that a lot of the locations identified are in largely rural towns where locations in-hand might have been bought out in a previous era. They might have been in the hands of local authorities. We are seeing difficulty in newer and growth areas where land that costs a significant amount of money has been bought up by developers over the past number of years, which is perfectly fine, and is zoned for housing. We do not have old buildings. We do not have buildings we can develop. What we really need is Government intervention at an earlier point to identify these sites. This is something where even Kildare County Council has had difficulty availing of and purchasing land because everybody knows that towns like Kildare are growth areas. It is easier to go into a smaller rural town where there might be sites and there is not the same competition with the large developers we need for housing. However, we also need the Government to get involved to deliver childcare in those locations. It is not enough to say that this has to come from the area itself.

I understand discussions are happening in Newbridge and Kilcullen about where these applications could come from. We are hopeful we will have two applications from Kildare childcare committee through that mechanism. It is good to see it will hopefully be able to overcome some of the challenges the Deputy has outlined. One criterion is that we would like these projects to be 300 sq. m or above. The reason for that is so they can provide up to 100 early learning and childcare places. The second criterion is that we want to them to be delivered quickly. I appreciate the challenge when you do not have a building and have to acquire a building, but there is funding for acquisitions as well. If you have a determination from a local authority for land or a building that is being provided, that is also helpful. The third criterion relates to the local need, which the Deputy has identified in County Kildare. I encourage him to work with the local childcare committee and any potential providers that are interested in this scheme.