I move:
That Dáil Éireann, in accordance with section 8(3)(a) of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Act 2003, as amended, appoints Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere to be an ordinary member of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission in place of Deputy Catherine Ardagh who has resigned her office in accordance with the aforementioned section 8.
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.
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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
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| 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 move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."
I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on the Second Stage of this important legislation. At the outset, I would like to thank the House for facilitating the taking of all Stages of the Bill today. The Bill provides for two separate and important issues. First, the Bill includes amendments to the Employment Equality Act 1998. The proposed amendments and subse…
I thank Deputies for their presence today and their continued engagement on these important matters. The Bill provides for two separate and important issues, notably amendments to the Employment Equality Act 1998 and amendments to the Institutional Burials Act 2022. I will speak directly to those as they are the issues at hand.
I thank all employers who have made an account on a voluntary basis on the gender pay gap…
I thank Deputy Wall for this amendment. While I appreciate the intention behind the amendment, I am not in a position to accept it. The amendments to the 2022 Act contained in section 3 of this Bill are textual amendments to the existing Institutional Burials Act 2022 and, therefore, those amendments are automatically construed with that Act. If the amendments are enacted, they will form part of the 2022 Act, rather …
I thank the Deputy for the amendment. Regrettably, however, I will not be accepting the amendment. The reason being that a report that would be removed from the public side of the portal would be where a person has been directly or indirectly identified by the publication of the report. In such circumstances, it would not be appropriate for me to lay a statement before the Houses of the Oireachtas as this has the pot…
I agree to it.
I thank the Deputy for bringing forward the amendments. I am happy to accept the amendments, which are technical in nature and improve the drafting clarity of the Bill. As the Bill was restructured into separate Parts and sections during drafting, an interpretation provision that was intended to apply more broadly came to apply only to section 4. These amendments insert a new interpretation provision at the start of …
I thank the Deputy for bringing forward the amendment and I am happy to accept the amendment, which is technical in nature and improves the clarity of the Bill . The amendment provides for an additional circumstance that may have occurred in relation to a determination and appeal to be included as part of the transitional arrangements. In this regard, it explicitly ensures that if a first cousin has appealed a determ…
I thank the Deputy for tabling the amendment. While I appreciate the intent behind it, I am not in a position to accept the amendment. If this legislation is enacted the amended provisions will apply to any applications or appeals, including those that may have been received but have yet to be determined. The amendment is, therefore, not necessary but I thank the Deputy for his consideration of the provisions.
I am pleased to outline key elements of the budget 2027 allocation for the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. I thank the Minister of State with responsibility for disability, Deputy Higgins; the Department's Secretary General, Kevin McCarthy; and all the senior officials in the Department who have worked hard with me on negotiating this budget of over €7.5 billion.
This year sees the disability budget…
Sorry, I did not realise I was sharing time. That is my mistake. Those are some, but not all, of the elements in the budget.
I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."
As Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, I am pleased to introduce to the House today the Disability (Amendment) Bill 2026. This Bill is the first legislative reform of the assessment of need process since it was established in the Disability Act 2005, over 20 years ago. This Bill is an acknowledgement by Government that the current assessment of need proc…
I join the Deputy in sending best wishes to my constituency colleague, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae. We are mindful of what he has had to endure and we wish him the speediest of recoveries. I am also mindful of his family. This is a traumatic time for them too. I know the whole House sends our best wishes.
On the Deputy's question, substantial progress has been made in the State-led early learning and childcare capital …
The Deputy is right. I appreciate that there are many eyes on this and there is great interest in this initiative, it being the first time that the State is actually stepping in this area with the State-led early learning and childcare initiative. I intend to make the announcement in the coming weeks. I am conscious of the case the Deputy makes about her own area. She has made it eloquently and consistently. I acknow…
I agree with the Deputy on looking at every possible mechanism that we have to extend capacity. The building blocks scheme is one. In terms of it being State-led, the State is stepping in, particularly with the purchase of buildings. The State will continue to purchase buildings or build them, if that is required in an area. There is also the building blocks scheme for extensions. We are looking at a suite of measure…
I thank the Deputy and appreciate the question. As Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, I am always conscious of the potential impacts of the work of the Department and others on the rights of children, women and girls. Indeed, my work has a very strong focus on improving conditions for women and children across this country. Equally, the Department of public expenditure and reform leads on the equality bu…
To reiterate, in terms of the book the Deputy referenced, the Department has no role in the oversight or recommendation of any of the books referenced. There is no role for the Department to do that.
On the Deputy's specific question on what exactly happens regarding assessments that are made of impacts on children, women and girls from an equality point of view, I have made very clear to him that when any Departmen…
To be very clear, the Department of Children, Disability and Equality has no role in the publication of books. The Department neither publishes the books, and nor does it recommend them. That has nothing to do with the Department.
Deputy O'Flynn referred to an account given by a former Deputy. I have said that I do not share that account. I have a different remembrance of the engagement I had with the former Deputy,…
The Government's youth justice strategy 2021-2027 identifies family support, early intervention and community-based diversion programmes as key components in preventing offending and promoting desistance. Enhanced family engagement through Garda youth diversion projects, Tusla services and reintegration planning is regarded as an essential element of effective youth justice practice in Ireland.
It is important to no…
I absolutely appreciate the Deputy’s concern. I think we all share the concern. However, I must also speak to the fact and the fact is the vast majority of children who are in the care of the State never, ever come into contact with An Garda Síochána. In fact, I would say they thrive with positive intervention and it is not appropriate to suggest otherwise. There is a close working relationship between the Department…
To reiterate, we are all concerned with any young people who find themselves in difficult situations. I am mindful there is a percentage of children, and not just children in State care but children who are not in State care, who find themselves involved with An Garda Síochána or who find themselves involved with crime or whatever. That is not just exclusive to the children-----
That is not exclusive to the very small minority who are in State care who find themselves in very similar circumstances. Other children outside State care find themselves in similar situations. For that reason, there are significant supports being made available from a family point of view to support families and young people so that they can readjust their lives, whether that is by way of counselling and therapeuti…
I thank the Deputy for the question on this important matter. Since core funding was introduced in 2022, it has been incrementally increased year on year through funding secured in the annual budget cycle. When first introduced in 2022, core funding had an annual allocation of €259 million, of which €210.8 million was entirely new funding for the sector. That annual allocation has increased each year and now, in the …
I want to be clear that I am absolutely committed to continuing to engage with the sector and all concerned to continue to develop the scheme in order that it can support providers to deliver high-quality early learning and childcare to children that is sustainable. I think that is the rub of the Deputy's question - sustainability.
To address concerns surrounding service sustainability, targeted measures including a…
I reiterate that there is unprecedented investment by the State in this sector. I think €1.7 billion speaks to the determination of the State to support early learning and childcare provision. That is in terms of supporting providers, the workforce and parents. We are moving into budget 2027 where there are negotiations, which I imagine will be ongoing to the eleventh hour, to see how we can advance in each of those …