Funding available for Kerry childcare firms

CHILDCARE facilities in Kerry are being urged to apply for new funding which will provide them with money to improve their service and expand their facilities.

Under a round of funding just announced by Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Dr Katherine Zappone €4 million is being made available to help childcare services put the infrastructure in place to enable them provide additional places and provide upgrades to their existing facilities.

Under the previous round of Early Years Capital funding 37 crèches and preschools in Kerry received investment.

To assist those services who are interested in applying, Early Childhood Ireland is holding a special information workshop at its annual conference which takes place on April 1 in UCD.

“As Minister I am determined that we will deliver quality, affordable, accessible childcare. Our goals are ambitious. We must lift the cost barrier which is preventing too many families from accessing services,” said Minister Zappone.

“This funding provides another step to putting the infrastructure in place to support our plans by providing €4m in capital funding – building on similar funding provided last year. I encourage providers to use this scheme to increase both the quantity and quality of childcare places,” she said.

“We very much welcome this funding announcement. We need to continue to invest in early years services to catch up with our EU counterparts in terms of quality and affordability,” said Early Ireland CEO Teresa Heeney.

For details of how to attend Early Childhood Ireland’s national conference you can log on to www.earlychildhoodireland.ie.