Frontier was commissioned by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY), Ireland to undertake an independent financial review on the financial sustainability and viability of “sessional only” early learning and care (ELC) services, to inform future developments related to the Department’s programme to deliver free ELC.

The Irish Government’s investment in ELC services has risen rapidly in recent years, including the introduction of a new Core Funding stream in September 2022. Frontier’s review was designed to collect robust quantitative data from a small number of services to derive accounting measures of financial viability, alongside qualitative interview evidence to understand services’ perceptions of their financial viability and the underlying drivers. The analysis examined the impacts of the new funding model, changing patterns in parental demand and rising delivery costs.

Read the full project report here. To view the full list of Frontier reports for DCEDIY, please click here.