Core Funding Resources and Support

Interim Funding Announcement – September 2022

Following the announcement and FAQ circulated by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) yesterday (Thursday, 11th August 2022), in relation to the Interim Funding are available below.

Interim Funding Announcement
Interim Funding FAQs
Core Funding Applications

Alongside the City/County Childcare Committees, Pobal are supporting services across the country in relation to submission of Service Profiles and Applications for Core Funding. We are noticing that it is taking small services approximately 1 hour to complete the process on the system although a single handed operator can complete in 15 mins and for larger services it is taking 3-4 hours to complete. Preparation is key for all size services. Pobal would encourage service providers to review the available resources outlined below in advance of commencing an application and to carefully consider the information required for each section of the application.

The following Core Funding resources available on the Early Years Hive in the Core Funding Documents section:

Core Funding Applicant Guidelines
Core Funding Technical Guidelines
Checklist for the Core Funding Application Process
Parent Statement for Partner Services Template
Parent Statement for Partner Services Guidance
Core Funding Privacy Statement
Core Funding Grant Privacy Policy to be Shared with Service Provider Staff

Additionally, there are specific Core Funding FAQs available in the FAQs section and a recording of a recent Core Funding training webinar in the Training Videos section.
Do you need support with your Core Funding Application?

If your service requires further support with completing your application, please contact your local City and County Childcare Committee (CCC). Individual support sessions can be organised and CCCs are available to guide services through the Core Funding application process.

Pobal would also like to advise that we are experiencing high volumes of usage across the Early Years Hive at present. This is expected due to the various programme requirements and deadlines. We are actively monitoring the system in terms of availability and performance. The system is available to use 24/7. Please be advised at peak times (10am – 4pm) some users may experience slower page response times and this can be impacted by your internet service provider and broadband speed. We appreciate your patience in this regard.

For queries relating to technical support, accessing and using the Early Years Hive and / or questions regarding Sector/Service Profile or Core Funding Application Module queries please raise a Service Request on the Early Years Hive. The Early Years Provider Centre is open Monday to Friday, 9.00am – 5.00pm.

Have you made an error on your application?

In instances where an applicant has identified an error on their Submitted/Approved Core Funding Application Module, prior to accepting the Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement, an applicant may raise a service request on Hive and Pobal can put the application “back to draft“ to allow for corrections by the applicant.

In order to do so, applicants should select the below categories when raising a Service Request.

Programme: Core Funding
Request Type: Application
Request Type Detail: Amend Application

Applicants will be notified via an update on the service request on Hive when the application status has been referred back to draft.

Please Note: It is then the responsibility of the applicant to ensure they re-submit the Core Funding Application Module with the corrected information within the appropriate timeframes. In order to receive an advance payment, the funding agreement will need to be accepted by Monday 22 August 2022. Any Partner Service which accepts the funding agreements on or before Wednesday 31 August 2022 will receive payment for the full duration of the agreement, although they payment may not issue in advance. A Partner Service can accept the funding agreements at any point after 31 August 2022, but funding under either agreement will not be backdated.

Update on issues with Ready Reckoner
Pobal also wishes to notify service providers that for a short period, between the 28th July and the 5th August, the Ready Reckoner tool produced incorrect estimate values. This has now been rectified and the Ready Reckoner is performing as expected. Pobal wish to apologise for any inconvenience caused.

As advised in the communications that issued alongside the Ready Reckoner, the tool is not an exact calculation and should not be relied on for financial planning. The Core Funding Ready Reckoner gives an approximate indication of your potential value for Core Funding based on the information that you provide in response to the questions asked.

The Core Funding application process which is now available provides the most accurate Core Funding value that services can expect.

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