I appreciate that the Deputy has come with many positive suggestions for how we can collaboratively support childminders going forward. Already the Department provides funding to each of the county and city childcare committees so that there is a specific individual who is a childminding development officer in place in each of the committees to work directly with childminders. That is an important access point for ch…
TDs / Norma Foley
Norma Foley
Minister for Children, Disability and Equality
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
0
questions asked
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them
119,703
words spoken in the chamber
119,703 as a minister, 0 as a TD
413
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
Members of the Government answer parliamentary questions rather than ask them, so this page lists none of theirs.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Contributions to debates 341 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Contributions |
|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 27 |
| March 2025 | 5 |
| April 2025 | 37 |
| May 2025 | 11 |
| June 2025 | 20 |
| July 2025 | 1 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 33 |
| October 2025 | 2 |
| November 2025 | 40 |
| December 2025 | 26 |
| January 2026 | 1 |
| February 2026 | 31 |
| March 2026 | 2 |
| April 2026 | 31 |
| May 2026 | 0 |
| June 2026 | 35 |
| July 2026 | 1 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 27 |
| October 2026 | 11 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 296 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Kerry 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth 23 January 2025 to 1 May 2025
- office Minister for Children, Disability and Equality 2 May 2025 to now
The HIQA inspection was carried out between 24 June and 30 June 2025. The inspection was a monitoring inspection of the Dublin north child protection and welfare service to assess the progress made on the actions identified to address non-compliance during the previous inspection in May 2024. The inspection identified that significant system risks previously escalated to the Tusla regional chief officer following the…
I accept that there is and was incredible urgency to ensure matters were rectified as a matter of priority. I acknowledge the work of Tusla in that respect. It has increased the number of social workers and 94% of all cases are now seen within two days. There is very strong oversight of the operation. The Dublin north city area team, with support from Tusla’s regional and national teams, has worked diligently in an i…
To go back to the case highlighted, in the intervening time, it has to be an absolute priority. I welcome the HIQA report because where things are not right, it must be highlighted and rectified. Tusla submitted the action plan which was accepted by HIQA. Since the time of inspection, Tusla has made significant improvements and rectified almost all of the issues, for example, 94% of all cases are now screened within …
The special rapporteur on child protection plays an important role in examining and reporting to Government on legal, legislative and litigation-related matters in respect of child protection. The annual reports of the special rapporteur provide important input to the development and review of child protection policy and legislation as well as an objective and independent expert view of the child protection system in…
I thank the Deputy. I want to be clear. I acknowledge the work of the special rapporteur. I have engaged with her and she has made herself available. I acknowledge that there has been considerable engagement between the Department and the special rapporteur on making the reports available in a timely manner. The special rapporteur has indicated that she expects to submit her report for the period February 2023 to Dec…
Again, I appreciate the Deputy raising of the question. I accept the word of the special rapporteur that she will present the report for February 2023 to December 2024 imminently and that she will furnish the report for the period July 2022 to January 2023 before the end of her term of office. The annual report for 2025 will be delivered in March 2026. I expect that will be done with priority.
I appreciate the Deputy raising this matter. Any case of a missing child is of enormous concern to the Government, everybody in this House and others across wider society. I know he agrees with me on that. We are always conscious that at the heart of this case is a young child. All of us, including the general public, are devastated that a young child could go missing for such a long time.
The NRP delivered its repo…
The Deputy alluded to some of the new measures we will be introducing under amendments to the Child Care Act. A duty to co-operate will be introduced. This is important and it will mean there will be a compelling duty on all relevant bodies dealing with children, including Tusla and Departments, to co-operate proactively in performing their existing functions relevant to the development, welfare and protection of chi…
I acknowledge that those in Tusla, the Department and all the agencies who work with children are absolutely central to protecting vulnerable children and are doing excellent work individually. However, the purpose of the duty to co-operate is that collectively there will be the sharing of information the Deputy referenced, everybody will be around the one table as it were and there will be a strong sense of partners…
This is very similar to the issue raised by the Deputy's colleague. I reiterate that any case relating to a missing child is of enormous concern to all of us and is a priority for all of us because we know that at the heart of it is a child and child welfare. All of us share in the sense of devastation and loss that a child could be missing for such a long time.
The national review panel delivered its report on the …
The recommendations were issued on 3 December. There has been a genuine willingness from all the Departments and agencies to move with haste and priority, but also to do it right. I chaired a cross-departmental meeting on moving forward with the sharing of information and ensuring that this duty to co-operate can very much come into being. Outside of the work under way in the Department, that interdepartmental group …
These recommendations were published on 3 December. From a legislative point of view, it is being given priority through my Department's work on the child care (amendment) Bill, which we move very rapidly through the House. I know that there will be very strong co-operation forthcoming from the Deputy and right across the House. We will continue to engage with all the Government agencies and Departments involved. Imp…
Happy Christmas from all of us. Thank you for everything.
I ask the House to note I am not opposing the motion and I welcome the opportunity to debate this important issue. The Opposition put forward a similar motion in May of this year which we, as a Government, did not oppose either. This Government has continued to progress key measures to access assessments of need as well as therapies since that motion went unopposed and I welcome this opportunity for further debate. I…
Municipal districts.
The Government recognises that there are unacceptable delays in accessing assessment of need. The Department and the HSE are committed to addressing these delays.
The delivery of an effective and efficient assessment of need system continues to be a priority for the Government. Intensive work has been under way to deliver actions to achieve this. It is important to note that children do not require an assessment of …
I thank the Deputy. Again, I acknowledge the points he makes. Parents are right to access every opportunity they can for a child. I would do it. They are right to do it but we need to find better ways to progress the assessment of need. As I have said, over 6,300 assessments have been done privately. Some €10 million was made available but it is likely that between €18 million and €20 million will be spent this year.…
Specifically in relation to the private capacity, €10 million was made available last year. I did say that if at any point more were required and if there were capacity to do more, more funding would be made available. It is our estimate that between €18 million and €20 million will have been spent, and a further €20 million has been secured in budget 2026. If more is required again in 2026, we will not be found want…
Pardon?
We will present that before the end of this year.
As the Deputy said, in a survey recently published by Childminding Ireland, 393 childminders responded to a question about their intentions for when registration becomes mandatory. Some 44% said they were undecided, 32% said they intended to stop childminding and 24% said they intended to register with Tusla. While those who responded to the survey and answered the question represent a small proportion of childminder…
I concede that childminders are hugely important and make a very significant contribution to caring for children right across communities, even in rural communities. I am very familiar with the extraordinary benefit childminders provide.
The Department has committed to a review as part of the transition period. That will commence in 2026.
Supports are available to childminders from the city and county childcare com…
I think we all appreciate that registration is important. It is critical to the safeguarding of children. It involves oversight of Garda vetting, proof of insurance, first aid and safeguarding training and so on. That is a positive thing in terms of registration.
Again, there are specific people available through the city and county childcare committees, childminding development officers, who are available on the gr…
I thank the Deputy very much. I acknowledge that many childminders, when asked about their intention to register, report that they are undecided, while some say they intend to stop childminding. As I have said previously, I understand the anxiety and uncertainty of childminders in a period of transition. Change is never comfortable. Communication is essential to that. It is a key element of phase 2 of the national ac…