2026-04-21

I thank the Minister of State for attending. I know this does not involve his own area, so I appreciate him taking this Topical Issue. As the Acting Chair said, I want to speak about childcare. It is probably one of the top three most prevalent issues in my own area of the city in Glanmire. If the Minister of State is not sure where Glanmire is or does not know much about it, it is a strong, growing suburb.

I was there with Deputy O’Sullivan at least twice.

You have, to be fair. It was after the flooding. The Minister of State is familiar with it. In the last 15 or 20 years, there has been unprecedented development of residential housing there. In the current city development plan proposals, further residential zoning is earmarked. Recently, the Minister, Deputy Foley, announced €135 million for State-led early learning and childcare services. It is a very welcome scheme and, in time, will prove to be a landmark announcement if we build upon it. I stand here today to make the case for Glanmire and why it needs to be among the first tranche to benefit from the announcement. As I said, Glanmire is rapidly growing. Over the past decade, it has seen significant growth and, with recent zoning, the population is forecast to double in the next ten years, yet its childcare infrastructure has not kept pace. In Glanmire, I can count at least four premises that were designated for childcare services that were never delivered, specifically because of the non-enforcement of planning conditions by the local authority. More recently, we face the further closure of another two settings, which exacerbates problems locally. This is a barrier to work in some cases but, most importantly, it is detrimental to the well-being of our children. The Government's forward-planning unit has acknowledged the need to focus on areas where childcare places have not kept pace with housing development. We have built 157,000 homes nationally since 2020, but the community in Glanmire is feeling the strain of that housing development. The State-led programme will step up and step in where the need is greatest targeting areas with unmet demand and low levels of existing childcare. Glanmire ticks that box. It has growing demand, limited existing community provision and families who would benefit enormously from an affordable, high-quality facility run on a not-for-profit basis. Again, Glanmire ticks that box. The initial phase of the programme will acquire and refurbish places that can provide in excess of 100 childcare places and facilities that can open in late 2026 or early 2027. Again, Glanmire ticks that box. I recently brought Cork City Childcare to Glanmire, with the owner of a proposed building and a proposed proprietor. It reckons that it can deliver up to 150 affordable childcare places in that building. The majority of the criteria were laid out in the Minister’s announcement some months ago. Glanmire ticks the majority of the boxes. I am sure that other Deputies will make the same pleas over the coming months in pitching for this €135 million fund. I know we will not be able to satisfy everybody's demands, but I am trying to put forward the case for Glanmire. I heard initial feedback that it is expected the scheme will be oversubscribed. In many ways, that is indicative of the demand that is out there. However, we are talking about hard-pressed, working families, especially in the context of the last few weeks, many of whom feel disenfranchised and feel that we could do more for them. This is particularly the case where young families are just trying to send their children to affordable childcare while they go about their daily business. As I said, I believe Glanmire can put its best foot forward. I hope it is given due consideration in the coming months.

I will not forget my visits to Glanmire. The Deputy will remember that I was quite active on the issue when the Sarsfields Hurling Club suffered a disaster. In that case, we established a unique fund so that Sarsfields and other clubs got funding because of the flooding disaster. Another project in Glanmire, unfortunately, escaped my abilities to sort out although, as the Deputy said, it was not my responsibility but that of another body. I am certainly very familiar with Glanmire. I would be only too happy if I were in a position to deliver what the Deputy is looking for. I am sure the Minister, Deputy Foley, will do her best. Unfortunately, she cannot be here tonight, and I am here in her place. Improving access to quality and affordable early learning and childcare remains a key priority for the Government. Based on the data available from the annual early years sector profile, the estimated number of enrolments has increased by 25% over the last three years. While the supply of places has increased, there remain indications that the demand, especially for younger children, is higher than the available supply in certain parts of the country. Living in the commuter belt myself, I know only too well the situation. The Department continues to support the ongoing development and resourcing of core funding, which has given rise to a significant expansion of places since its introduction in 2022. Now in its fourth programme year, core funding funds services based on the number of places available. Core funding provides stability to services and reduces the risk associated with opening a new service. The increased investment in core funding will allow for the natural growth of the sector driven both by new services joining the sector and existing services increasing their hours. A forward-planning model has been developed and will be central to the Department's plans to achieve the policy goals set out in the programme for Government to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early childhood learning and childcare system, with State-led facilities adding capacity. The model quantifies the nature and volume of different types of early learning and childcare places across the country and assesses alignment with the number of children in the corresponding age cohorts at local area level. The Government is also supporting the expansion of capacity through capital funding. The building blocks extension grant scheme is designed to increase capacity in the one- to three-year-old pre-ECCE age range for full daycare. Core funding partner services could apply for capital funding to physically extend their premises or, in the case of community services, to construct or purchase new premises. The scheme will deliver up to 1,500 full daycare places for one- to three-year-olds. Four applicants from Cork were approved for funding under the scheme. Following on from the success of that scheme, the Minister today launched a new capital scheme, the building blocks extension grant scheme, phase 2. The scheme will make available €10 million. It will open for applications this year and will focus on offering community and private providers funding for extensions to their existing premises. The Minister also recently announced €135 million in capital investment in buildings for high-quality, accessible State-led early learning and childcare. The process will begin in 2026, with investment in buildings in what will be a groundbreaking initiative for the Government. Capital funding will be used to acquire and-or fit out the building, depending on requirements. There will be a particular focus in the new State-led facilities on providing places for one- to three-year-old children because this is where the need is greatest, with scope for these children to progress in the service until they start school. A suite of appraisal tools has been developed, including a forward-planning model, in order to select projects that align with our objectives.

It was remiss of me to forget that the Minister of State was in Glanmire when people were in the depths of despair after that flooding incident. I know they were most grateful at that time. They were also grateful to the Taoiseach and the then Minister, Michael McGrath, who was also there at the time. It was remiss of me to forget that, but I know the community in Glanmire certainly will not. In the brief time that I have, I want to make the case again. There will be dozens of these projects across the country. We will all have them in our constituencies. We will all be putting our best foot forward to try to get one of these over the line in each of our areas. I want the Minister of State to relay the message to the Minister, Deputy Foley, that Glanmire is unique in many respects, especially on the northside of Cork city. It is probably the single biggest area where new housing developments are being built on the north-eastern side of the city. There has been a large influx of young families but, unfortunately, many of them have nowhere to send their children locally and they are sending them further afield. In the last couple of weeks, an announcement was made to close one of the naíonraí, which is one of the only language provision childcare facilities that we have. Many of those parents have to go to Mayfield and other parts of the city to avail of childcare. That discommodes people because it might not be part of their normal route to work and given the traffic and having to ferry children left, right and centre across the city, it is often difficult to make the journey. In one fell swoop, we can secure 100 to 150 childcare places, which would be a massive boost for an area where primarily young, working families are situated. The building owner is on board and Cork City Childcare is supportive. It is one of two applications that have come forward from my side of the city. I am pleading with the Minister of State to take the message back to the Minister that Glanmire needs its slice of that €135 million.

I will bring it back to the Minister. Up to eight buildings will be selected this year for the State-led initiative. That will provide places. The level of investment will ramp up during the lifetime of the Government. The initial approach is to purchase and refurbish buildings, given that that is a faster route to delivery, while the option of building new facilities will also be considered. Services will be offered on a not-for-profit basis by third parties. Where a project is being considered without an operator already in place, the Department will run a process to identify an appropriate not-for-profit operator with capacity to operate a high-quality service, where works are required to manage a capital project. The Department is assessing sites and buildings and, where required, will seek expressions of interest from operators to deliver these services. Local city and county childcare committees will be supporting the development of projects, so in the first instance, community early learning and childcare operators, local authorities, developers and others who might have suitable premises and projects should contact their local committee.