To ask the Minister of Education how organisations who are funded by Early Years, and who do not have funding reserves, will be assisted financially in the likely event of having to make staff redundancies.

The Early Years Fund is administered by Early Years – the Organisation for Young Children (EYO) on DE’s behalf under annual Service Level Agreement. Letters of Offer were made by EYO to eligible groups on an annual basis, based on each group’s circumstances. Awards were made in some cases as a contribution towards the salary costs of the group and in others to meet a deficit between income and predicted expenditure.

EYO has confirmed that the current Letters of Offer with groups (which expired on 31st March 2015) make clear that EYO has no responsibility for commitments made by groups beyond 31 March 2015.

I have however ensured that funding is available to enable all current recipients to receive continued funding until 31st August 2015. I will continue to review my budget to establish if a fund can continue beyond that date. However the Early Years Fund is effectively a “closed” fund and any alternative funding will have to be open to all applicants, not just current recipients, and reflect the policy priorities of DE.