Questions

1610. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla has conducted any internal audit, review, analysis, or risk assessment regarding the impact of repeated placement instability on educational attendance, mental health outcomes, behavioural presentations, or long-term permanency outcomes for children in care; if so, to provide details and findings; and if she will make a st…

1611. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla's current case management and information systems are technically capable of generating national reports on placement instability and repeated placement changes for children in care; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42689/26]

1612. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether the Department or Tusla has established any national benchmark, target, performance indicator, or acceptable threshold relating to placement stability for children in State care; and if they will provide details. [42690/26]

1613. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the average number of placement changes experienced by children in State care, broken down by duration in care categories of less than one year, one to three years, three to five years, and more than five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42691/26]

1614. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether repeated placement changes for children in State care are reported through any national governance, risk management, safeguarding, or quality assurance framework within Tusla; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42692/26]

1615. Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if consideration will be given to a double foster care allowance payment for December 2026 and future years, similar to the once-off payment made in 2024; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42714/26]

1616. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to outline the options available for parents who have place(s) in a creche that opts out of core funding; if it is possible to ensure that proper notice is given to parents about increases in fees; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42739/26]

1617. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to outline the process, including specific steps, through which a person with a disability can access a disability manager to assist with their case regarding care and housing; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42741/26]

1618. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the criteria used to assess whether public expenditure is delivering value for money; the assessments that have been carried out in relation to disability services; if she is satisfied that value for money is being achieved in this area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42782/26]

1619. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if in relation to childcare providers operating within Band F of the Core Funding Model, the number of providers offering 50 or more hours of childcare provision per week; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42785/26]

1620. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her plans to review the early withdrawal provisions of the national childcare subsidy scheme with the objective of eliminating the subsidy penalty imposed on families who withdraw their children early; if her Department will conduct a consultation with childcare providers to understand the actual fee structures and charging practices u…

1621. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the measures being taken, or are planned, to increase the availability of childcare places for children aged 0-3 years old in Waterford; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42907/26]

1622. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will look at costs outside the control of Early Years providers who are in Core Funding, where costs have increased significantly, and they are not costs controlled by the provider (details supplied) meaning they are forced to make up the increase which in one case means an additional €26,000 annually; and if she will make a s…

1623. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if there are flexibilities in place for a childcare centre categorised in band F to revise their fees (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42945/26]

1624. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the basis for allowing different upper fee rates for childcare centres in band F based on when they joined the core funding scheme (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42946/26]

1625. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the reason binding national and international obligations under both the UNCRPD and the UNCRC have failed to translate into frontline practice (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42999/26]

1626. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of units that have been flagged to her Department regarding the State-led capital childcare programme as potential childcare facilities, by county, in tabular form. [43059/26]

1627. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of expressions of interest received by her Department regarding the State-led capital childcare programme. [43060/26]

1628. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the estimated first year and full year cost of increasing the weekly foster care allowance by €1. [43102/26]

1629. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether her Department has considered establishing a national longitudinal outcomes dataset for care leavers to track housing status, homelessness, employment, education and wellbeing outcomes following the closure of aftercare supports; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43188/26]

1630. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether any assessment has been undertaken of the long-term housing outcomes of care leavers following the cessation of aftercare supports since 2020; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43189/26]

1631. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether her Department has examined data-sharing arrangements with local authorities or homelessness services to monitor housing outcomes among former care leavers after aftercare case closure; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43190/26]

1632. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of young people recorded as homeless while in receipt of aftercare services in each year from 2020 to 2025, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43191/26]

1633. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla records Emergency Care Order applications under section 13 of the Child Care Act 1991 at local, regional, service-area, court-office or other operational level, notwithstanding the absence of a national reporting mechanism; and if they will provide details of any such datasets currently maintained. [43211/26]

1634. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of Emergency Care Order applications made by Tusla under section 13 of the Child Care Act 1991 in each of the past five years, broken down by service area, region and District Court district; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43212/26]