I welcome the opportunity to provide an update on the matter. I am pleased to confirm that historical fee data is now available on the national childcare service search for fees from the 2021-22 programme year to the present programme year. I acknowledge that this was very important to the Deputy and that he pursued it for some time. The portal hosting this information was originally designed to contain information f…
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
I acknowledge that the Deputy has pursued this. It is important that parents have the maximum information available to them. It is also important that the system is seen to be transparent and that is the purpose of the information being made available. I can confirm that it went live on 30 October, just a short while ago. If parents need any additional information or assistance, I suggest that they contact the city a…
I thank the Deputy very much. Improving access to quality and affordable early learning and childcare is a key priority for Government. Early learning and childcare capacity is increasing. Data from the annual early years sector profile shows the estimated number of enrolments has increased by approximately 19% between 2022 and 2024. However, it appears demand for early learning and childcare remains higher than avai…
I hear the case the Deputy makes but I am obliged to point out the improvements that have been made, which the Deputy has already articulated. Not everybody is in that space but I have to point out the increases to parent's leave and parent's benefit and all of that, although I absolutely acknowledge that does not meet the needs of every single individual. We are very conscious of the need to ensure that there is app…
It is finished, is it? The time is up.
I also join in the condolences offered to Harvey's family. I speak today conscious that much more needs to be done to improve our spinal services for children. The parents of children waiting for spinal surgery have real and genuine concerns and the Government must address those concerns. All parents want the best for their children and every opportunity for their future and rightly so.
As one of the negotiators for…
Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, as an am agus an deis a thabhairt dom labhairt ar bhuiséad 2026.. I welcome the opportunity to address the House this evening on the key elements of the budget 2026 allocation for the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. This is the first of five budgets where we begin the journey to achieve a number of key objectives. The first is to secure additional funding…
I thank the Deputy very much. I reiterate the comments I have made previously. This is such an upsetting and awful situation and, like the Deputy, I extend my sympathies to all those who knew and loved Daniel and recognise what a great source of upset and heartbreak it is to everybody, from the immediate family to the foster carers and wider society as well.
I thank the Deputy for her question. I again acknowledge i…
Again, I acknowledge this is a significant step forward in terms of cases that were closed during the lockdowns caused by Covid. It is important to say there are many reasons for a case being closed. Oftentimes, we regard that as a real positive and then on other occasions a case can open again. It is important also to say many of these cases may well be to do with child welfare as distinct from child protection issu…
I thank the Deputy and appreciate her engagement on this matter. I think we are all ad idem in our determination that we need to move proactively where we find any gaps in information or support. The Deputy is correct. I have identified the issue with ECCE. ECCE, the early childcare provision, has been hugely successful. It is two years of free preschool care, if you like. We have almost a 97% uptake of that, so it i…
The national carer's strategy 2012 sets out Government policy on family carers. Oversight of the strategy is led by the Department of Health, with individual Departments leading on action areas that fall within their remit. The Department of Social Protection provides payment supports to carers, while my Department supports the provision of respite services for people with disabilities and their carers.
The Governme…
I recognise the extraordinary service provided by family carers and all carers. Without their diligence and the work that they do, the lives of many would be in a far worse position. I absolutely and unreservedly recognise their work. As I said, respite sessions for people with disabilities have increased significantly, with over 164,000 respite overnights and more than 65,000 respite day-only sessions, but I absolut…
I join the Deputy in recognising the great work of Family Carers Ireland. Spending on respite services for people with disabilities is about €134 million annually. Since 2020 there has been a significant increase in this funding, of 58%. The Deputy is quite correct to put it in the context of the upcoming budget negotiations that we need to do more in this space also.
The HSE is about to undertake an audit of respit…
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 intend to publish the a…
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 State-led facilities, …
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 new premises. The Depu…
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 that no one’s life …
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 increasing demand for AONs ev…
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 provides for the procureme…
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 addition, the fee caps are…
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 couple of weeks have…
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 with the Department…
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 reviewing the 2001 childcare…
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 forward planning, the for…
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 necessary for it to st…