Dear Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare Providers,  

The Department is pleased to announce that the application process for the Core Funding 2023/2024 programme year will open at 12pm on Friday 23 June 2023. 

In advance of submitting a 23/24 Core Funding Application, Partner Services must ensure that their Service Profile is up to date, and that they have completed the 22/23 Annual Early Years Sector Profile Survey.  

Existing Core Funding Partner Services who have completed the June Review and Confirm process and are at an approved status will be able to transfer their most recent Core Funding Application data into their new Core Funding Application Module for 2023/2024. To submit a 2023/2024 Core Funding application Module please go to the Programmes page of the Early Years Hive. 

Once a Partner Service has submitted their application, they have a 14-day window to activate the Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement 2023 which they will find on the Programmes page of the Early Years Hive in the Available Programme Applications section. 

You can view a copy of the Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement 2023 in Core Funding Documents.

If your service requires support completing an application, additional resources are available under the Core Funding Documents section on Hive. Your local CCC (County Childcare Committee) also remains available to assist you in completing your Core Funding Application Module. 

If you require any further assistance or clarification on any of the above, please contact the Early Years Provider centre by raising a ticket as follows: -Programme: Core Funding, Request Type: Application, Request Type Detail: Application. 

Best wishes,

The Early Years Team