I ask the Minister for an update on the review of the 2001 planning guidelines for childcare facilities whereby for 75 new homes, there should be the provision of 20 childcare places. The link between supply of new homes and childcare places has not been working effectively. I welcome how the Minister has addressed this as an issue of concern and I seek an update on her progress.
TDs / Emer Currie
Emer Currie
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2,918
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
46,432
words spoken in the chamber
Across 211 contributions
414
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
320
topics asked about
Across 20 departments
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
What they ask about
The subject headings the Oireachtas filed their questions under.
Who they ask
The departments their questions were addressed to.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Questions asked 2,918 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 211 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 31 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 64 | 6 |
| March 2025 | 88 | 5 |
| April 2025 | 103 | 14 |
| May 2025 | 99 | 32 |
| June 2025 | 168 | 12 |
| July 2025 | 143 | 11 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 225 | 10 |
| October 2025 | 226 | 11 |
| November 2025 | 286 | 23 |
| December 2025 | 107 | 1 |
| January 2026 | 202 | 7 |
| February 2026 | 199 | 10 |
| March 2026 | 149 | 12 |
| April 2026 | 188 | 8 |
| May 2026 | 217 | 13 |
| June 2026 | 117 | 8 |
| July 2026 | 105 | 5 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 100 | 10 |
| October 2026 | 101 | 13 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 170 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Asked about similar topics
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 Dublin West 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fine Gael 29 November 2024 to now
We have a rudimentary system from 2001, which provides that for every 75 homes the developer must provide 20 childcare places, but it is not working for a variety of reasons. The provision of childcare infrastructure cannot be based on such a basic formula alone. Like schools, we need a proper forward planning system based on demographics, assessment of need, new residential developments and that delivers appropriate…
Is it envisaged that the review will form part of the action plan? I am looking forward to that action plan because to address any of the issues in childcare, whether that be affordability or availability, we have to address all the issues in childcare, such as infrastructure, staff and retention and funding models. Does the Minister agree? Some of our small providers are struggling with core funding. I wish to give …
Ireland is a leader in remote working, and that is not by accident. Approximately 15% of people in Ireland work remotely on a full-time basis. That compares with an average of just 10% across Europe. Access to any form of hybrid or remote work stands at 37%, which is also higher than the European average. I want to speak specifically about the benefits of fully remote and locationless work, distinct from hybrid model…
The Minister of State has confirmed what I had set out, that Ireland is a leader in remote work.
We cannot take that for granted, however, particularly when we see announcements about companies rowing back on hybrid arrangements. There are great benefits to diversifying the tax base while revitalising local economies and communities. There are 100,000 remote jobs advertised on job sites across Europe monthly. We can…
According to data from the Department of children, there has been a 25% reduction in the number of State-supported crèches taking babies under one year of age since 2022. Baby rooms in crèches outside of core funding are not subject to fee caps, meaning parents are likely paying over and above for services they are desperate to secure. These are damning figures and should be a wake-up call to those who constructed co…
I welcome the establishment of this commission of investigation into historical child sexual abuse in all schools. The scoping inquiry received 2,395 allegations involving 884 alleged abusers across 308 schools nationwide. That is 2,395 allegations; 2,395 cases of children abused by monsters, and 2,395 cases of our nation's children being failed by our schools, 308 schools, and by our State. Survivors have shown imme…
Community childcare not-for-profit operations led by the community for the community stand out in a sector dominated by private provision as an alternative, often part of a wider network of early intervention and family support services. Availability varies wildly across the country, from over 60% of services in Monaghan and Leitrim to just 6% of less in my own county of Fingal. It is 13% in Wicklow. In Dublin 15, tw…
11. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to provide an update on his Department's engagement with the Department of Transport regarding the proposed transport security force; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36531/25]
I appreciate the recent steps to improve transport security, including the increased budget of over €11 million for a security presence through the Department of Transport, Operation Saul and the new public transport hubs. However, we have to keep moving on the commitment to establish a transport security force. In 2024 alone, over 4,200 complaints were received reporting incidents of drug use, violence and sexual as…
I want to raise the issue of Garda numbers in Dublin West. Some 120 new recruits were attested overall in June and 74 were allocated to Dublin. According to local gardaí in my area, only four came to the Garda's K district. Of 150 new recruits in March, 98 were sent to the city centre and four to the K district. The K district consists of Blanchardstown, Cabra and Finglas and is one of the busiest districts in the co…
13. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration for an update on the roll-out of local community safety partnerships in Dublin West; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36530/25]
I thank the Minister for bringing the regulations into effect for the local community safety partnerships so they can get up and running. This new approach will involve residents, social workers, youth workers, businesses, education representatives as well as An Garda Síochána and State agencies. The initiative is important to us in Fine Gael and I commend the Minister, Deputy McEntee, on developing this vision. Can …
The Minister was very keen.
Community partnerships have the potential to truly impact community safety because intervention and prevention are not only the remit of the Garda. We have to bring local stakeholders to the table to tackle local problems with local solutions.
I am wondering how the Minister will ensure residents know about this initiative. Will there be a local campaign or a local awareness drive? I believe €5.5 million has been pr…
I thank the Minister for the update. I will circle back to the matter of Garda numbers because community safety also depends on that. There should not be inconsistency across the districts in the Dublin metropolitan region. The K district might be losing out to the city centre at the moment but, historically, there have been inconsistencies with other Dublin districts as well. There is potentially one Garda for every…
I held a public meeting about the EPSEN Act in 2023 as part of the review. Like anything involving parents with children who have additional needs, it was an eye-opening experience. I thank all the parents who have reached out to me over the years. The most important question we need to ask is whether children are given equal access to education by the system which supports their development. We have come a long way,…
Since the Minister took office, he has placed a significant focus on increased Garda visibility in Dublin city centre, part of which he represents as a constituency TD. His prioritisation of the city centre seems to be working, and I say "well done" on that, but there is the rest of the country and what about the rest of Dublin? It is not the first time I have raised this issue. Communities outside Dublin city centre…
93. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Transport if he will publish the national policy framework for unmanned aircraft systems before the summer recess; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34142/25]
My question is whether the Minister will publish the national policy framework for unmanned aircraft systems, UAS, that is, drones, before the summer recess. As part of that, will he implement U-space regulations that have been applicable in EU states since 2023? U-space provides for the creation of a new, dedicated airspace for drones. It is essentially a traffic management system that could play a critical role whe…
I thank the Minister. It is good to see a bit of a move away from the gobbledegook that has dominated the answers I have had so far on drones. The indecipherable regulation-speak reflects the paralysis and powerlessness large sections of my community feel when they are in their homes and gardens listening to the drones above them. Dublin West is being used as a test ground for commercial drones making food deliveries…
I am aware that there are polarised views and I am also aware of the benefits. My concern is also timing. A corporate entity operating in a space without sufficient regulation will not have the duty of care to communities that is required, and we are seeing that already. A commercial operator in our area is claiming it has received 77 complaints about 170,000 flights, but I would have had that number of complaints in…
101. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Transport to provide a breakdown of the investment made in enhancing existing bus services in Dublin West from 2020 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34143/25]
My question is to ask the Minister for Transport to provide a breakdown of the investment made in enhancing existing bus services in Dublin West from 2020 to date. A handful of routes – four in total – have been introduced under BusConnects, mainly to replace existing services, and one new route called the W4. While we await the full implementation of BusConnects in 2026–27, our existing services are really strugglin…
I thank the Minister. His numbers are the same as the ones I got through a parliamentary question dealing with capacity issues in each of the years 2020 to 2024. Seventeen million euro in that time had been invested in launching new bus routes in Dublin West, but, as the Minister said, just €1.6 million has been spent on enhancing existing bus services.
That discrepancy tells its own story. The €1.6 million that has…