2026-07-15

I am taking this Topical Issue with my colleague, Deputy Lahart, on behalf of the children and parents affected by Nexus preschool, which is a service provider based in Knocklyon, but which has centres and provision in communities across Dublin Mid-West and Dublin South-West. Nexus preschool provides specialist educational programmes for children with autism spectrum disorder, many of whom have been unable to secure appropriate school placements. In recent times, the service has been informed by Tusla that, as a registered early years service, it is not in a position to enrol children aged six years or older. The issue is that the service provider has, in fact, supported children aged over six for the past number of years, with the knowledge of the local special educational needs organiser, SENO, in situations where there are not sufficient school places for those children. We are not talking about a scenario affecting only one or two children. Across the sites it operates, if Nexus is not allowed to proceed with registering these children for September, we could be looking at up to 60 children without appropriate support. This is a matter of distress to those children and their parents. I understand that Tusla is acting in good faith with regard to the regulations in place for early years providers. However, a precedent seems to have been set in recent years whereby this service was allowed to continue to register children over six years of age. Will consideration be given to a ministerial exemption and-or constructive engagement with the provider to get things to where they need to be? We also need to look at the range of powers and options available to Tusla under the early years and childcare legislation and regulations as to what can be done to ensure compliance with those regulations. More fundamentally, we may need to look at revising the regulations, especially in the context of an issue often raised in this House, namely the lack of sufficient special education spaces, particularly for children with ASD.

Parents of children with special needs require certainty and predictability. Their lives and those of their children are challenging enough without having to endure distress and anxiety caused by uncertainty and unpredictability. The Minister of State appreciates that. As my colleague Deputy Moynihan said, parents are deeply concerned that Nexus in Knocklyon and other locations has been informed by Tusla that due to its registration as a part-time service provider, it cannot take children who will be aged six or older for the 2026-27 school year. Nexus has been warned it could face sanctions, fines or prosecutions if it continues to provide services for those children. The families affected have argued that this decision could leave their vulnerable children without appropriate educational supports at a time of severe shortage of special school and special class placements. Deputy Moynihan and I had a meeting with the parents on Tuesday, where we heard at first hand about those anxieties. Parents are frustrated that they may be forced to choose between keeping their child at home, having to leave employment to provide care and placing their child in an unsuitable educational setting. Deputy Moynihan has highlighted the crux of the issue. As the parents have pointed out, Nexus has already been supporting children aged six and over for many years. It has undergone inspections without this issue being highlighted heretofore. Families are seeking clarity as to why a difficulty has now arisen and what steps will be taken to ensure their children are not disadvantaged. Tusla must explain why the provision of this care was okay until now. Was there an incident? What changed? Transparency on the part of both Tusla and the provider is needed before we can move forward.

I thank the Deputies for raising this issue. It seems absolutely ludicrous that this service was being provided to children aged over six and that Tusla was happy to allow it to continue but that things have suddenly changed. Deputy Lahart is right that transparency for parents is incredibly important, as is having certainty and predictability in respect of the service into the future. In today's world, we cannot leave children in a vacuum at any age, and particularly when they have previously had a service available to them up to the age of six. That cannot be allowed to happen. I appeal to Tusla to provide that transparency, certainty and predictability to parents immediately. It is absolutely crazy that because of this, parents might either have to leave their job or find an alternative, possibly unregulated or unsuitable, education setting for their children. Tigers Childcare and Nexus Preschool provide a full daycare service, as the Deputies alluded to, which opened in 2024. The service is registered to provide care and education to children between two and six years of age across two distinct services at the same address, both with their own staffing teams. The service was inspected on 4 March 2026. During that inspection, the service was found to be operating outside of its registered status in regard to two children over the age of six who were in attendance on the day of inspection. Should the providers wish to lawfully provide services for children who do not have a school placement, they can consider seeking approval to become an education provider pursuant to section 14 of the Education (Welfare Act) 2000. The service providers could alternatively reach a private arrangement with the parents of the children to provide services in accordance with the home tuition scheme. However, this could only be operated separately and distinctly from the existing registered early years service. The question is how to accommodate 60 children, as Deputy Moynihan noted. The service providers were requested to revert to the terms of their registration status. Under the early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme, the provision of an exemption to the upper age limit where a child has special or additional needs is made under review by the Department of children in conjunction with the Department of Education and Youth. It is a requirement that any request for an exemption to the upper age limit under the ECCE programme must include a letter from a medical specialist or therapist specifically recommending why an ECCE service would meet the child's specific needs in a more appropriate way than a primary school. In deciding on applications for exemptions to the ECCE age limits, the Department of children is guided by a review of the exemption to the upper age limit process carried out by the National Disability Authority, NDA, for the Departments of children and education in 2018. In its published report, the NDA concluded that it is in the best interest of children with additional needs to transfer to primary school with their age cohort. All cases are examined on their own merits. While many children granted an ECCE overage exemption will reach the age of six years while in their final year in ECCE, overage exemptions are not granted to children who have already reached the age of six.

I thank the Minister of State for that comprehensive response. The providers in question have indicated that they are exploring the possibility of securing education provider status. I understand they have started those discussions. I fully acknowledge the parameters of the regulations, as set out in the response from the Department of children. Like Deputy Lahart, what I am asking for is certainty. Paths forward have been identified. What is needed now is urgent engagement between Tusla, the Departments of children and education and the provider to ensure we do not have a situation where children who are particularly vulnerable, given the nature of their needs, have to be moved from an environment in which they are comfortable and where they know the people caring for them. In fairness, Nexus has made it very clear that where primary school places have become available at other sites across both constituencies, they have assisted with that transition. In this instance, they have been providing a safety net for these children to ensure they have care. I fully appreciate the remit of the regulations but it seems from the Minister of State's response that there could be a path forward. I ask that there be urgent engagement on the matter.

Will the Minister of State clarify on whose behalf she is responding? Is it the Minister for children or the Minister for education?

I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality.

One of the things that strikes me about the reply, which is not the Minister of State's responsibility, is its technical nature and the lack of child-focused orientation it displays. There is no comfort in it for parents as to what will be done for their children in six weeks' time. That is the real letdown. I fully concur with Deputy Moynihan that there is an avenue available to move this situation forward. I am grateful for the Minister of State's indication in that regard. If there is a child-focused view and perspective, then the Departments of children and education will move Heaven and earth to ensure that Nexus is in a position to qualify and to jump through the hoops that are there. I thank the Chair for allowing me a bit of latitude here. I am not saying Tusla is wrong in its position. Nexus may not have been upfront with us but we have no reason to believe that is the case. Tusla has not explained why it allowed this service to continue. According to the provider, there were inspections previously. Let us focus on the children. They need places and their parents need certainty for 1 September.

I totally concur with the Deputies' appraisal of the response to the effect that there is an avenue open now for Tusla, the provider and the Department of education to sit down and find a pathway forward. There may be a narrow window, but anything can be done within six weeks. It would seem deeply unfair that, because there may be discrepancies related to two children, 60 children and their wider network of family, parents and friends would be impacted. To give to any family the traumatic news that perhaps within six weeks' time their child will not have a place seems deeply unfair. Therefore, I appeal to Tusla to sit down with the provider and the Department of education to find a pathway forward, take away the uncertainty and give predictability to parents as quickly as possible. Once again, I thank both Deputies. I know that when you go to public meetings like those in question, there are tough stories from parents and you may feel a little inadequate sometimes in being able to deal with these things as quickly as possible. I am glad the Deputies used their time here today to make the presentation and to campaign for the parents. I will relay their very heartfelt sentiments to the Minister, Deputy Foley, this afternoon. The Minister wishes to acknowledge the role of the Tusla's early years inspectorate, which is the statutory regulator of early years services in Ireland. Regulation includes registration, inspection and, where necessary, enforcement. Regulation is very important. It is the gold stamp of approval for any service. The question here is one of why now when the service has already been in place for what I imagine is many years. Tusla's early years inspectorate promotes and monitors the safety and quality of care and support of children in Tusla-registered early years services in accordance with the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016. The ECCE programme currently provides for exemptions to the upper age limit in certain circumstances, as I have outlined, to support children with additional needs. The provisions of the exemptions provide an opportunity to ensure that these arrangements continue to meet the needs of children and families while remaining consistent with the objectives of the ECCE programme. I will relay to the Minister the Deputies' heartfelt remarks on behalf of these most vulnerable children and their families.