Dear Service Provider,

Please see the announcement from the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (DCDE) in relation to an update to Sustainability Review 2026/2027.

Queries relating to this should be directed to your local City/County Childcare Committee (CCC).

Regards,
The Early Years Team

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Fee Increase Assessment/Sustainability Review 2026 Update

The Department recently announced the introduction of Sustainability Review 2026/2027, whereby vulnerable early learning and childcare services charging the very lowest fees which have been frozen since 2021, and in some instances, prior to 2021, may apply to the Department for a sanctioned fee increase.

After consideration, the Department has reviewed the eligibility criteria and amended the following criteria:

• Removal of the Adjusted Regional Thresholds as previously announced, and instead base applications upon the Regional Median Thresholds as the eligibility thresholds for the Sustainability Review process.

This has resulted in the thresholds at all levels being increased. These new values can be seen in Table 1 of the Appendix. This will have a knock-on effect on the lists of potentially eligible services, and the Department will provide CCCs with an updated list of services for them to contact.

All other elements of the process, including the other eligibility criteria, announced previously remain the same. Any approved increase will be subject to strict limits designed to protect affordability for families. The maximum allowable increase on an individual fee will correspond to the fee cap reductions applying from September 2026, as follows:

Fee increases will not exceed the median fee for that Band in that region, and fee increases are limited in the Sustainability Review Process 2026/2027 to services charging the low fees and incorporating robust protections for parental affordability into any new process. This targeted approach on low fees was implemented as complementary support to the very significant funding increases secured by the Minister for Core Funding for year 5. Core Funding year 5 allocations will increase state income to all Partner Services and negate the need for fee increases for services charging fees above the Regional Median Thresholds.

Obtaining written approval from the Department through the Sustainability Review process is the only circumstance in which an eligible Partner Service may increase fees under this process.

Any fee increase implemented without explicit written approval from the Department would constitute a breach of Core Funding terms and conditions.

CCCs have begun to contact eligible services to identify those interested in undergoing a Sustainability Review. They will continue to reach out to those on the new lists of potentially eligible services in the coming days. Please contact your local CCC if you have questions surrounding the process.

Appendix

Table 1. Regional Median Thresholds