Norma Foley

I thank the Deputy for her continued engagement on these matters. As she is aware, the programme for Government commits to "undertake a broad consultation and publish a detailed Action Plan to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early childhood education and care system". Given the need to make progress as soon as possible while also allowing time for a broad consultation process, I int…

That €25 million investment under the building blocks scheme has and will provide for an additional 1,500 additional places, which are obviously much needed and a positive step forward. It is important, however, that we take the opportunity to review an existing programme every year. I am absolutely committed to reviewing existing measures and adding new measures. Deputy Kerrane referenced the St…

To reiterate, I am happy to look at any mechanism that will support the provision of additional places. I am very open to that, whatever that mechanism might be. We have opportunities to look afresh now, whether that is through mechanisms like the building blocks scheme or indeed through this new mechanism that we have through State-led facilities. Often, that does not necessarily mean building ne…

I thank Deputy Ó Murchú. I recognise the other elements he had in place. In the context of the national human rights strategy for disabled people, there is a recognition that a number of Departments have different roles. This is and must be regarded as a whole-of-government approach. In the consultation process, one of the most telling exchanges that came from a disabled person referenced the fact…

When it comes to the CDNTs, I would be the first to say that a lot more work needs to be done in this regard. If we wish to look on the positive side, we have seen a nationwide increase of 26% in CDNT staffing levels since October 2023. The national vacancy rate has also reduced from 29% to 18%, but it needs to reduce a lot more. With regard to AONs, I absolutely acknowledge there is an increasin…

I acknowledge everybody in this field, the professionals on the front line and the families enduring what they are enduring. I do not forget Cara Darmody's great advocacy work. I want to acknowledge the additional funding in place - the €10 million that is very much close to Cara's heart - to ensure private assessments could be delivered under the AON process. Under that initiative, the HSE provid…

I thank the Deputy. He will be aware that the maximum fee caps were extended to all partner services in core funding this month. The introduction of fee caps is an important step towards the reduction of parental fees to €200 per month over the lifetime of this Government. While the fee caps were introduced for new services last year, they now cover all services that are in core funding. In additi…

We are already at 90% of providers having joined core funding, which is 5% ahead of where we were at this time last year. The opportunity to engage in core funding remains open and services can sign up to the fourth year of the scheme at any point in the year. It is significant to be able to say that at this stage of the year we have reached 90%. We are in an Estimates period and will in the next …

There is, as the Deputy conceded, unprecedented Government funding going into the sector. If a provider steps out at any point, that provider can return. The Department has a sustainability fund. If a provider is of the view it is not viable to continue or is having particular sustainability issues, it can in the first instance engage with the city and county childcare committees and it can engage…

The 2001 planning guidelines for local authorities on early learning and childcare settings were issued under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. The guidelines are intended to ensure a consistent approach to the treatment of planning applications in respect to the land use planning aspects of early learning and childcare provision. The programme for Government commits to reviewin…

The Deputy and I have discussed this at length. It is my strong view that the notion of 75 homes and providing 20 childcare places is not fit for purpose. We have also discussed that there are many units across the country that were built-for-purpose childcare but either went for a change of use or were certainly not used for the purpose for which they were intended. As the Deputy referenced forwa…

The entire purpose is to ensure that we can maintain the services that we have, and indeed, provide for new services to meet the demands that are out there. The Deputy will have to concede that the Government is the most significant contributor at this point in time to this sector. The investment from the Government is quite phenomenal but equally so, it is the objective of the Government where ne…

The establishment of a child death review mechanism, while very welcome, is not in the remit of the Department of children. As the Ombudsman for Children’s recent child death review report outlined, the majority of deaths take place in medical settings, which the Deputy will appreciate is outside of the scope of the Department. It is important to state that. I welcomed the report entitled Child D…

It is a commitment in the programme for Government and therefore there is agreement across the Government. I was party to the negotiation of that programme for Government so I am very committed to that initiative. I believe it is hugely important. On the matter of full disclosure, I have also met the Ombudsman for Children and was happy to do so. The lead Department has not yet been determined by …

I reiterate, for the purpose of accuracy, that the national review panel is entirely independent, and that is right and proper. There should be no interference with its work. It is entirely independent in its functions, making findings of fact and producing reports that are objective and independent of Tusla or anyone else. That is important. I point out, and it is important this is stated accura…

I will say clearly that childminders are a hugely important part of early learning and care and school-age childcare provision, and they continue to be the option of choice for many families. I am firmly behind the regulation of childminding services, which is critical to the safeguarding of children. The childminding-specific regulations, which came into effect in September 2024, are designed to…

To be fair, we want the system to work. We want childminders to feel they can register with Tusla and that this is in their best interests as much as it is in the best interests of the children they care for as well. The work childminders do is invaluable. The Deputy is correct; it is a matter of choice for parents as well. Some parents opt for this and want this. I come from a rural constituency …

I thank Deputy Kerrane. I have no argument with what she is saying. Childminders do provide a valuable service. It is important that they would be open to the registration process too though. That is important and will be a gain not just for children but for the childminders themselves. It also allows the supports to be put in place like those we have currently such as the €1,000 support to assist…

I thank the Deputy. Improving access to quality, affordable early learning and care and school-age childcare is a key priority for the Government. Capacity in this sector is increasing. Data from the annual early years sector profile for 2023 to 2024 shows that the estimated number of enrolments increased by approximately 19% over the previous two years. School-age childcare has shown particular g…

It is an absolute objective of this Government to ensure that we make provision for children of all ages. More specifically, the Deputy is interested in school-age childcare. We have had some very significant innovations I can point to. For example, in my time as the Minister for Education, I published procedures on the use of school buildings and sports facilities outside of school hours. The pur…

I want to be clear that I 100% agree with the Deputy. It is only right and proper that everybody who wishes to participate in the workforce get that opportunity. It is certainly not acceptable or right that anyone's opportunities would be hindered because of a lack of childcare or that it would be one particular cohort of people. The Deputy specifically instanced women who would be disadvantaged h…

I am aware of the facility to which the Deputy refers. As he indicated in the question, Once Upon a Time has regrettably chosen to withdraw four of its ten services from core funding. They are Once Upon a Time services in Ballymount, Dublin 2, Dundrum and Shankill, with six other sites remaining in the core funding. The Department, through the local childcare committee, has engaged directly with t…

Core funding remains open and Once Upon a Time may reapply for the withdrawn services during the year and can join the overwhelming majority of providers. Already 90% of all providers are involved in core funding, which is a 5% increase on the number of providers involved in core funding this time last year. The opportunity remains open to Once Upon a Time to reapply for the services it has withdr…

I reiterate that the Government is absolutely committed to the €200 per month payment as outlined in the programme for Government over its lifetime. I took note of the Deputy's commentary that this provider and other providers are suggesting that core funding "traps services". That is not an accurate phrase to use insofar as I can point to the fact that core funding provided €1.5 million in year o…

The funding provided by the Department for early learning and care, ELC, and school-aged childcare services is provided on the same basis to both Irish medium and English medium services, whether inside or outside Gaeltacht areas. In line with commitments in the five-year action plan for the Irish language, the Department recruited an Irish language support co-ordinator in 2020 to drive the develo…