Deputy James Bannon has welcomed the announcement of funding totalling €78,991 for funding for childcare services for Co Westmeath. These allocations come as part of the second round of Childcare Capital Grants awarded since 2008.
“It is vitally important to invest in children in their early years and I am delighted that for the second year in a row Minister Frances Fitzgerald has been able to make funding available to support childcare services around the country. Local service providers will directly benefit from this funding. The allocation of €78,991 forWestmeath is a welcome investment that will help to ensure that we continue to improve the quality of early childhood care and education in our area,” he said.
According to Deputy Bannon all submitted applications were considered in order to find those that most closely met the criteria and objectives of the programme. Applications that were successful were those that represented the most complete, coherent, and compelling cases for funding with particular consideration given to additional supporting material and the level of deprivation of the areas according to the Pobal Haase index. “I would like to congratulate all of the successful applications in both Longford and Westmeath,” he added.
“This investment is being targeted to have high impact on the successful childcare providers involved. Funding will go towards providing safe outdoor play spaces in childcare services, improving buildings and supporting services to ensure that children with disabilities have better experiences within early years settings.”