COVID-19 Sustainability Support Funding

The COVID-19 Sustainability Support Funding is to be made available as part of the Department’s July Jobs Stimulus Funding Package for the Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC) sector.

The following information about the eligibility criteria for accessing the COVID-19 Sustainability Support Funding is now available.

Who is eligible to apply?

Community and Private ELC and SAC Services are eligible to apply i.e. for-profit and not-for profit services of all kinds (ELC, SAC, sole traders and companies, etc.).

Owners of multiple services can submit one application per facilit
Note:  Applications received from a multiple service provider will be considered collectively.

As part of your preparations please ensure that you complete the on-boarding of your service on the HIVE system.

Eligibility Criteria

All applicants must also fulfil the following eligibility criteria to be considered for this fund:

1. Have a DCYA reference numberfor the facility for which they are applying for.
2. Be registeredwith Tusla.
3. Must have been contracted with Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) to provide Early Learning and Care and or School Age Childcare Programmes on 12March 2020.
4. Must have an active contract with the DCYA for programme year 2020/21.
5. Have applied for the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) from Revenue.

Note:  This criteria does not apply to sole traders with no employees.

6. Demonstrate a decrease in uptake of ELC and SAC places compared to February 2020 (i.e. occupancy of the service has decreased compared to pre-pandemic).
7. Demonstrate increased costs due to the impact of COVID-19.
8. Adhere to their Registered Fees List as it was on 12 March 2020.
9. Completed all their registrations on PIP or HIVE (Early Years Platform) for the new programme year 2020/2021 for September 2020.

Funding will not be available immediately on 24 August 2020; rather there will be a four-week period in which services can monitor their occupancy levels in the new programme year and determine if they are facing any challenges.  For successful applicants, funding will be backdated to 24 August, 2020.

Any services which already have concerns about their sustainability should contact their local CCC in the first instance. Case Management assistance is currently available, and CCCs may also be able to help concerned services by providing information and signposting for other Government supports for which they might be eligible.