Respectfully, the problem is that some of those childminders at that point will be gone. If we are waiting for them to register with Tulsa and we then engage with them at that point, is it under 200 of the 13,000 or 14,000 childminders in the State who have registered with Tusla to date? It is happening at a snail’s pace. If that is what we are waiting for, then the review will be almost a waste of time. At a time wh…
TDs / Claire Kerrane
1,216
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
52,368
words spoken in the chamber
Across 221 contributions
425
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
214
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The subject headings the Oireachtas filed their questions under.
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Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Questions asked 1,216 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 221 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
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| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 8 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 54 | 19 |
| March 2025 | 72 | 7 |
| April 2025 | 86 | 15 |
| May 2025 | 58 | 9 |
| June 2025 | 70 | 9 |
| July 2025 | 70 | 7 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 84 | 18 |
| October 2025 | 41 | 5 |
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| December 2025 | 47 | 21 |
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| February 2026 | 98 | 18 |
| March 2026 | 80 | 6 |
| April 2026 | 58 | 22 |
| May 2026 | 75 | 5 |
| June 2026 | 61 | 24 |
| July 2026 | 37 | 1 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 47 | 6 |
| October 2026 | 18 | 6 |
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Plus 170 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
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Worked out by computer from the subject headings of each TD's questions, giving more weight to headings few TDs use. It shows shared subjects, not shared views.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Roscommon-Galway 29 November 2024 to now
- party Sinn Féin 29 November 2024 to now
That was the first year. It is over; it is gone.
83. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to outline the measures announced in budget 2026 for the early years sector, including the 2,300 places to be created via extensions to schools and community centres; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61736/25]
I want to ask the Minister to outline the measures for the early years sector that were announced in budget 2026, particularly the measure to provide 2,300 places via extensions to schools and community centres. Perhaps she will be able to enlighten us as to where that measure came from and how long she expects planning permission to take for these extensions to take place.
I welcome all of those measures and any measure announced for the early years sector that will make a difference. One of the biggest issues we have in the early years sector right now is capacity. We have serious issues in terms of capacity, whether it is capacity in baby rooms or capacity in childcare places at every level right across the State. As far as I am concerned, when we need 40,000 to 50,000 childcare plac…
In terms of building capacity, where has the idea of extensions to schools and community centres to create 2,300 places come from? I think of a school in Ballinasloe that has waited almost 30 years for a new build. Schools cannot build and develop what they need to and we are talking about extensions. We need childcare places tomorrow. Extensions to schools, if there is permission from schools in the first instance, …
This Bill will allow the ESB to access more funding and do more in terms of investment in improving infrastructure. As the majority shareholder in the ESB, there is a real onus on the Government to ensure people feel the benefit of that extra funding and investment. This is especially important for areas like mine across Roscommon and Galway that were hammered by Storm Éowyn earlier this year.
Proceeding with projec…
To the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and the Minister of State, I have to say I was in disbelief at what was announced on childcare in the budget yesterday. In the last two weeks it has been reported that between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil there has been a wrestle between reducing costs for parents or building childcare capacity. This budget does neither. We are all well aware that there are three big issues. They are the cost …
We have no ring-fenced funding for our early years educators and school-age practitioners at a time when the staff turnover rate in some counties is upwards of 50%. We have 50% of early years educators in some counties leaving the sector, yet we have no ring-fenced funding for an additional pay increase next year. They are still waiting on the pay increase that was announced in June. We are almost four months on now.…
I have asked repeatedly for the most perfect system - I credit the Government for it because it got to it eventually - for family carers in terms of the State pension. It is excellent, and family carers have got the State pension they deserve, especially those who were short the 520 credits. The Government should do the same thing for foster carers where they are short and not allow them to get to the age of 66 after…
Family carers deserve an income support that recognises their care. The current system does not do that because if you are living with someone or are married to somebody, no matter how much care you provide and whether it is 24-7 or whatever it may be, it does not matter. The care does not matter because your partner, your husband and the person you are living with has an income. I always recall a constituent who cam…
County Roscommon is one of a number of counties with no domestic violence refuge. I met with Roscommon Safe Link over the summer. I must commend them on the great work that they do.
For a number of years, they have been struggling to find a location for a refuge, which they are anxious to establish for the county. They are struggling to find one that meets the standards that are being applied by the Housing Agency. …
I agree with my colleague that the Minister for Health should be here tonight to stand over a decision she has made. She should be here to answer our questions. The Minister for Health should be here to tell us why pregnant women in our region are going to be forced to travel to access maternity care and have their babies. She should be here tonight to tell us why she and the HSE have made a decision that essentially…
I thank the Minister of State for his reply. Of course, the bottom line here is that if you seek an external independent report, get the recommendations, fail to implement those recommendations, and then see the same issues arise again, it is not exactly rocket science to know how that has happened. We, as elected representatives, have been misled. On a really important report in relation to the birth of children at …
Child poverty is rising. It is incredible to think that, in 2025, in one of the richest countries in the world, we have a situation whereby this generation is so much more worse off than the previous. I think of my own parents who were born in the 1960s. When they grew up, they had very little but they were never hungry. That was 60 years ago. There are serious questions, and the Government needs to have a serious lo…
1. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality for an update on her engagement with Tusla following the report of a missing child in Donabate, Dublin, to date in 2025; the steps Tusla is now taking, and the timeline for same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49873/25]
Things have moved on since I submitted this question and we now know that child was Daniel Aruebose. I take this opportunity to offer my sympathies to everybody who loved him, especially the foster carers who looked after him.
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. I appreciate, and we all respect, that the Garda investigation is under way and the force has to be allowed do its work. It is important to acknowledge those gardaí as well. It was a very difficult search, especially finding the remains.
I have a couple of questions. I welcome that the closed cases will be examined, starting with those closed during Covid. For any social worker, like a…
I take it from that reply that perhaps this will be done in future by Tusla, and of course there is a role for other organisations.
On one other point, there appears to be a gap for preschool-age children. When a child is born, there may be a number of visits by the public health nurse to the home. After that, depending on whether the child goes into formal childcare, there really is no check that exists, and that i…
3. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality for an update on key commitments made in the programme for Government on early years and, specifically, the commitment to undertake a broad consultation and publish a detailed action plan to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early childhood education and care system with State-led facilities adding capacity, as well as a rev…
I ask the Minister about a number of key commitments in relation to childcare in early years in the programme for Government, specifically the broad consultation, the detailed action plan to ensure accessible, affordable, high-quality childcare and also the review of core funding. I ask her to provide us with any timeframe in relation to any of those three key commitments. Within the broad action plan is also the use…
I want to come back to the State-led facilities, which is a significant move. The Minister talked about looking at areas of unmet need.
I understand some scoping was carried out within the Minister’s Department in terms of where that unmet need is. To provide one example, which I have given here before, an analysis was carried out with the family resource centre in Boyle, County Roscommon. That analysis found that t…
I appreciate the decision has not been made yet, but does the Minister envisage using the building blocks scheme to build capacity and allow a new group that has come together, particularly groups of parents, to purchase an existing building? It is a win-win then. New premises are not necessarily needed in Boyle. There is an ideal premises in the town that is well located and perfect for its use, but they are not in …
9. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she is aware of issues childminders are experiencing with the new regulations; if she is concerned that childminders are leaving the role; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49910/25]
I want to ask the Minister about the regulations that came into effect for childminders across the State in September 2024. They have now been in place for a year and there are issues being raised, primarily by Childminding Ireland. Given the severe capacity issues we have within our early years sector and the very high turnover of early years educators, particularly out of private childcare settings, we need now mor…